Borrowed, Not Stolen
by Infinite Vibrance
Summary: It's all fun and games until a heart gets broken. SasuNaru.
1. Hopeless Interrogations

Hey guys! Fallen's back with a new story c: I wanted to upload **Resurfaced **or **City of Towers **but my flashdrive isn't working on my Windows 7 computer that I'm using... so I decided to upload this story instead because a) I really wanted to upload a new story and b) because the folder I have this saved on my deskstop still works :D. So here we go!

**Warning: This will be rated M for malexmale situations. Perverted dialogue. Stupid humor (As always ;D) and uhh... you know what. Just strap on your chastity belt and be prepared for anything!**

**Disclaimer: SCREW YOU. I WILL NOT RIP AWAY MY RIGHTS TO OWN SOMETHING AS BEAUTIFUL AS NARUTO!**

Enjoy chapter one, everyone c:

* * *

><p><strong>Borrowed, Not Stolen<strong>

**Chapter One: Hopeless Interrogation**

"Lucky! I get to see your smiling face again, Sasuke-kun." The blond reclined lazily in his chair, a wild grin plastered on his face as he stared up at the _not _smiling expression of Sasuke Uchiha.

"How many times do I have to tell you _not _to call me that, Uzumaki?" Sasuke rubbed his throbbing temples. Naruto Uzumaki. The biggest kleptomaniac he had _ever_ had the pleasure—that was sarcasm of course—to know. His files are chock-full of major heists he had pulled off that they had to dedicate a whole cabinet to this man. Yet, instead of going on to bigger and better thefts, Naruto grew smaller and smaller with each larceny. Sasuke deemed it off as your regular criminal mind gone barmy. Though Naruto proved him time and time again that he wasn't just _insane_. He actually had a fully functioning brain. Only the fool refused to use half the time. Or so it seemed.

"About as many times as you've told me to stop committing crimes," Naruto deadpanned, although his grin quickly found its place once again. "And you _know _how well my listening skills are, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke shook his head, finding that this conversation was starting to take a turn for the worse. Naruto Uzumaki was probably the only man alive—and if there were more, Sasuke didn't want to meet them—that could drive Sasuke Uchiha, master detective, baddest cop in town, up a gosh darn wall. So, he changed the topic of the conversation to more, pressing, matters.

"Why can't you ever keep your hands to yourself?"

"Oh, Sasuke-kun. I never knew you were a man to talk dirty." Naruto purred, licking his lips for emphasis. Sasuke quickly shot down the heat that mixed so well with the disgusting shivers dancing along his spine. "Well if you _really _want to know the reason why…"

"Give it to me straight, Uzumaki." Sasuke warned, his eyes narrowed on the blond who was currently attempting to _not _laugh right in his face.

"You know I'm nowhere _near_ straight." Naruto leered. And for the hell of it he even bucked his hips up in the air. He threw his head back with laughter when a evident blush spread across Sasuke's face like wildfire. The blond still got it. "That was cute." He sneered. "Seriously though, did you have to handcuff me? Unless you're into that kinky stuff. Because that's cool… and a turn on."

"Is everything that comes out of that damn mouth of yours sexual?" Sasuke growled.

"Only sometimes." Naruto winked, "You just happened to catch me on one of my hornier days."

"You're insufferable…" Sasuke muttered and slammed his hands against the table top. He was a freaking professional! A very well known, and successful, detective. However no means of poker faces, taunts, and carefully selected banter could prepare him for someone like Naruto Uzumaki. The kleptomaniac was one of a kind in terms of personality and infamous status in the criminal underworld. At only age eighteen he was known for stealing the priceless _Cleopatra's Eye _that was going to be on exhibit. Although all the clues had pointed to _him _the boy still managed to evade the law, and soon the case was dropped. Just like that. By age twenty-one he had already made a name and legacy for himself as the youngest thief to ever keep under the radar for so long. It was like the man was a ghost. Disappearing and reappearing whenever there was something shiny he wanted to get his hands on.

That was… until he stepped down from his pedestal and started going for low-rate objects rather than go for the bigger game.

"Admit it. You find that incredibly sexy about me." Naruto purred. He pouted though when he realized his sexual jab had no affect on the hard mask Sasuke had placed. Huffing, Naruto figured out that play time was over and Sasuke would no longer answer his taunts unless they strictly went against the interrogation. _'Party pooper…' _

"Explain to me why you stole _this_—," Sasuke held up a rather shiny, glittery, necklace that had the blond's mouth watering in a matter of seconds. "—again? I highly doubt you like to cross-dress in your spare time."

Naruto scoffed, "You don't know what I do in my spare time."

"Actually I do." Sasuke raised his hand up; issuing that Naruto kept his trap shut if he knew what was good for him. "You make my life a living hell because you don't have any restraint when it comes to that five finger discount!"

The blond gasped as if horribly offended and even pouted, eyes watering as if he were on the verge of tears. "Ouch, Sasuke-kun. That one actually left a mark. Right around my heart… Kiss it and make it better?" he added with a wriggle of the eyebrows.

"I have half a mind to throw you in a prison cell right now." Sasuke hissed. '_You know you want to take up his offer…' _Why? Why must the unethical part of his mind sound so… enticing? Damn it all.

"What is the other half of your mind saying?" Naruto asked hopefully. Perhaps he _would _be getting some action from the raven today. He mentally scoffed. Naruto may _seem _stupid, but he was rather perceptive when it came to things like figuring people out – their mannerisms, personality, etc. And right now, Sasuke looked like he was about to shove that lamp on the table half way down his throat.

"If I told you I'd have to kill you." Sasuke smiled devilishly, though it turned into a scowl when Naruto simply rolled his eyes and snorted.

"If my guess is correct, I'm pretty sure the other half of your mind was planning on killing me anyways. So your threat is null and void."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly at how aloof and insipid Naruto's remark was. Normally he would have fired back with something sexual, or even a fake jab that he was actually injured by the man's words. Oh no… this Naruto in front of him, indifferent and lacking any real interest frightened Sasuke somewhat.

'_Did I step on a mine without realizing it?' _Sasuke shook that thought out of his head and threw it in the trash the minute it appeared. _'Why do I even care? The man's a criminal! So what if I trampled on his feelings a little? The man was pissing me off anyways…' _his thoughts lacked any real fervor, though.

Sasuke cleared his throat; the tension still clung to the air. "That wasn't what the other half of my mind was thinking…" he lamely defended himself. The look in Naruto's eyes told him that he was no fool.

"There's no need to lie." Naruto shrugged his shoulders carelessly. The handcuffs rubbed his wrists the wrong way and he had to fight back the urge to hiss out loud. Never show your enemy—no matter how hot he is, especially in those khaki pants—that you're weak. It gives them openings to cut you up even more. Allowing that boyish wonder to once again appear in his eyes, Naruto smiled. "Do you mind taking off these handcuffs? I swear I won't make a go for your crotch. Well… maybe a little fondling..."

"Are you a molester on the side too?" Sasuke easily evaded the topic of releasing Naruto _and _the fondling bit.

Naruto gaped like a fish, only to close his mouth shut. "I'm offended that you would make such an accusation! I would never touch someone that wasn't willing and if there wasn't any love in it. But really. Who am I to start going on about my values?"

Sasuke snorted, keeping whatever berating comments he had to himself. Naruto could be very docile if you were on his good side. Get him mad though… and it was like you were dealing with a demon on your hands.

"I'm going to give the store their necklace back." Sasuke started. He noticed the way Naruto sighed as if he were truly disappointed, but Sasuke could tell by his body language that he really didn't care if he gave back the necklace or not. Strange.

"Damn. And I was looking forward to giving that to my mother too." He sighed wistfully, batting his eyelashes towards the stern-looking detective.

"Don't start that bull with me." Sasuke shot back.

"Not my _real _mother, dip shit." Naruto shot the tennis ball right back into Sasuke's court. "Jeez. Can't a man try to crack a joke once in a while?"

"Not when that joke is an outright lie."

Naruto shrugged, "I found it funny."

And here comes the insane part of a criminal's mind. Sasuke always found it a rather fascinating thing—the criminal's mind that is. He always pondered for hours on how they thought what they thought. How the ideas to steal and kill got planted in their mind. Was it the music they listened to? Their family background? Or perhaps they just wanted the thrill that being good couldn't give you? Sasuke never believed in that last part though. He thought that something had to be sewn for an idea—a belief—to grow. Either someone planted it for you or your background and people around you had a heavy influence.

Naruto was a different case from all the other insane whack jobs Sasuke had met in his line of work. As far as he could dig up on the man's background, Naruto had no other parents to look up on since he was orphaned. When he was orphaned never came up though, but normally parents had a huge influence on you. Judging from Naruto's personality, the man was always set on his ways and wouldn't easily be influenced by a friend's opinion. And the man had a blatant disrespect for authority unless he could get some use out of them. Basically speaking, Naruto was a hard man to sway. Still, there had to be _some _reason behind his thefts.

"Why do you even steal in the first place?" Sasuke asked casually, though his eyes were analyzing every single thing Naruto's body did that would contradict with his words.

Naruto smiled lazily, finding himself getting a tad hot and bothered by Sasuke's gaze. "If you moved those eyes a little lower you'd find a very nice surprise…"

"Uzumaki!"

"Alright, alright, I get it! Sheesh! Take a joke, man." Naruto shook his head in mock sympathy that had as much humor as a dry wall. "Would you believe me if I said I love the thrill of borrowing?"

"You mean stealing." Sasuke deadpanned.

"No. I meant borrowing. I take the objects, sell them, and then give whatever price the original object was back to the people I took it from. So can you really call that stealing?"

"Thank you for explaining your logistics. But I asked you _why _you steal."

"Borrow," Naruto fixed the man's 'mistake'.

"Stealing," Sasuke narrowed his eyes. And thus the battles of wits begin!

"Okay, so maybe I lied about the thrill." Naruto cracked down after five minutes of being held under the heavy gaze of Sasuke Uchiha. He loved making the man angry though. He was freaking hot as hell when his onyx eyes smoldered with a fiery passion. _'If only I could get him to look at me like that in another way…' _

Sasuke snorted, "Obviously."

"Hey! Let me finish here. I _do _have a reason for… stealing." Naruto scrunched his word at the tone. In his mind he never actually _stole _anything because he always gave the money back to replace it. Granted, most of the things he stole were one of a kind, but he always thought the people would just find a more, valuable, object to replace what he took. It made sense in his mind. "However, I don't feel like you deserve to know."

"What?" Sasuke was practically seething by now. The minute he was close to a breakthrough Naruto had to turn around and shut him out. Again. This man was about to punch a hole through the wall if this continued. "Why not?"

"Because my reasons are for me to know and for you, my cute little detective, to find out," Naruto happily answered, a cheeky grin plastered on his face. "I _could _become more lenient, though."

"I'm not going to start gambling with you, Uzumaki." Sasuke retorted, gulping when he saw that predatory gaze in Naruto's eyes. This was all a game to the man, and Sasuke could see that _very _clearly.

"Oh please, Sasuke. I'm not looking for a gamble. Rather, a trade off. I tell you my reasons and you take off these pesky handcuffs?" Naruto flashed a smile of a true gentleman and wiggled his eyebrows. "How does that sound?"

"It sounds like a load of bull." However Naruto _was _opening a door here that he could finally add to his scarce background information on the once master thief. Would you call it an obsession when a man uses all his resources to find out more about a certain person? If so, than you can freely call Sasuke Uchiha an obsessive person. He was constantly trying to find more and more about the man in front of him. Trying to find the pieces to the jigsaw puzzle that made Naruto well… Naruto. The man was a mystery in itself. And that not only fascinated Sasuke, but made him a little weary as well.

"Suit yourself." Naruto shrugged once again. "I can always start singing you know? I just got this song stuck in my head, and I think its some opera I heard on TV before. Anyways, whenever I get the urge to sing I normally sing _loud and proud_." If that didn't get the man to comply with his wishes, then Naruto didn't know what would.

Sasuke visibly blanched, knowing far too well how 'great' Naruto's singing voice was. The last time the man had sung opera, Sasuke had to go the hospital in case his eardrum was ruptured. Thank God it wasn't but…

"Fine." He replied curtly and went to the back of the chair. He fished for his pocket for the key and jammed it into the lock; the handcuffs unlocked with a clink and fell to the floor. "Now tell me—"

Sasuke found himself straddled by Naruto who was currently snapping the handcuffs safely on the man's wrists. The blond smirked victoriously, rather pleased with himself that he was able to get the stone-faced detective to fall for his trap so easily. Not only was he free, but he could also grab the necklace _and _play with Sasuke for a little. Man life was just too good so times.

"I love it when you're gullible…" Naruto purred seductively in the man's ears, enjoying how much of a shiver he got in response. He slowly started to move his hips back and forth, listening to Sasuke's breath hitch. The blond chuckled darkly, sliding his hands up the man's shirt and started to run his fingers along the man's sides, across his chest, and playfully brushed over a nipple.

"U-Uzumaki," Sasuke panted, feeling an annoying erection starting to form. How the _hell _did he allow himself to fall so easily for Naruto's charades? It had to be the eyes. Definitely. They were way too blue and way too… too… _innocent _to belong to such a conniving devil.

"I love it when you moan my name, Sasuke-kun." Naruto leaned in to nip at the man's reddening earlobe. Hearing the man's labored panting in his ear called Naruto to back off for now. Like he said before, he didn't like to touch people he had no feelings for and weren't willing. Sure, he was attracted to the man. But that was most likely his dick doing all the talking. Smirking, Naruto trailed his lips down to the man's cheek and placed a soft kiss on the blushing skin.

"As much as I'm enjoying this right now, I must bid you farewell." Naruto chuckled as he got up from Sasuke and watched the man struggle the break free. Way too cute. "Oh! I hope you don't mind—although you probably will—but I'm taking the keys to the handcuff and the diamond necklace with me." Naruto smiled as if he was an innocent angel sent from above and started to make his way to the door. "I wouldn't recommend moving too much. Those handcuffs are a bitch. And you'll probably be here for a while. No worries though. I'll tell someone about your predicament…" in a softer voice – that Sasuke still heard—Naruto said, "That is… if I remember."

And the door was shut close. Leaving behind a very angry and horny Sasuke handcuffed to a chair. Man… Life could be such a bitch sometimes.

* * *

><p>I will probably be updating this weekly, depending on feedback and how busy I am during the week. This is really uploaded on the spur of the moment so bear with me guys! c: <strong>BABY PANDAS AND ALL THAT JAZZ<strong>. LOLOLOL. I'm stopping now. You should all check out **otakuobsession(dot)tumblr(dot)com**. That's my anime/fanfiction/yaoi blog I made so I can connect with you guys:D. There's a submit button where you can share your favorite fanfiction, ask so you can leave me anything you want, and possibly dirty yaoi photo ;o. OHHOHOHO. I HAVE NO SHAME!

Kay guys. I'm done.(: You guys know the drill! I love you all! Till next Sunday hopefully c:


	2. Happy Tunes

I'm back a little earlier than planned! Thank you one and all for reviewing, adding this to your alerts and your faves (: Makes me uberly happy! Now then, I'm really tired and distracted so I'll keep this short c:

**Warning: Hmmm, well, there's probably some taunting. Some flirting. Stupid humor. Dead pandas (WAIT WHAT. I KID). And the conflict of the plot is introduced rather early like the clever person I hope I am c; This IS SasuNaru btw, but I do love having Naruto play the flirtatious imp every once in a while and having Sasuke run in circles. It's a nice change of pace from my other stories. **

**Disclaimer: lakjflajfjaf I'M GOING TO START WRITING FOR POKEMON WHEN I CAN PROUDLY SAY "FUCK YES I OWN THESE CHARACTERS!" akslfjaslkfj Until then. I... I don't... Moving on.**

Enjoy (:

* * *

><p><strong>Borrowed, Not Stolen<strong>

**Chapter Two: Happy Tunes**

Naruto was in a rather good mood. After all, not only had he just handcuffed his favorite Uchiha detective to a chair, he had managed to keep his "borrowed" necklace and walk out of the interrogation room with a rather cheery grin on his face. It wasn't everyday that he could simply walk out of cop territory freely. Although Naruto did know most of the people on the force—old friends that had gotten to know him from his frequent visits. So that could be the reason why Naruto was sauntering through the station like he owned the place. Whistling a happy tune, Naruto counted the minutes until Sasuke would come running after him to "beat him up". The blond had to smirk at that. Sasuke was all bark and no bite. What a cute combination.

"Someone seems rather chipper," Kakashi Hatake smiled with his one eye. Naruto always wondered how the man lost his left eye, but said man never revealed more information about himself than necessary. Didn't mean that Naruto stopped sticking his nose in it every chance he got. He was just that nosy.

"Am I?" Naruto cocked his head to the side innocently. Kakashi could see the evil glint in the man's eyes though and simply shook his head.

"You're going to get yourself hurt one day with that reckless behavior."

The blond couldn't help but smile. "Aw, Kakashi. I never knew you cared about my well being. I'm touched!"

Kakashi barely managed to hold in an eye roll. "More like if I had to deal with your death that would be a lot of paper work I'd have to sort through." The man shook his head, nearly shuddering at the aspect of actually going through _all _that paper. "I'm a very busy man you know."

Naruto scoffed, not believing this man for a moment. "I let you come near my 'mom' only because I thought you'd be good for him." The blond narrowed his eyes in the form of daggers towards the commissioner. "Don't use him as an excuse to slack off."

As quickly as that dangerous glint in Naruto's eyes came, it went. And for a split second Kakashi actually thought Naruto was going to attack him. Or at least reveal some hidden weapon to hold up against his throat. Kakashi was not easily scared, or made paranoid. He had known Naruto for a number of years, growing closer to him not because they constantly meet up due to the blond's petty thefts that results in Sasuke dragging him in for "interrogation". A few years back Kakashi had met Iruka or better known as Naruto's 'mom' and had slowly started to make his way into their family. Then... a horrible tragedy occurred that nearly broke their make-shift family in ripped up halves.

'_Does this make me the father then?' _Kakashi shook the thought away, not really time to think about family logistics. Smiling, although Naruto couldn't see it behind the man's surgical mask that he wore for kicks, Kakashi said, "I would never misuse Iruka in anyway. Despite what you believe, I love him. And I'd rather not deal with the wrath of Naruto Uzumaki—master thief."

Naruto nodded approvingly, a wide smile plastered on his face. "Glad to hear it. Now if you excuse me, I have a present to deliver—oh shit." The blond sighed dramatically when he spotted Sasuke standing by the doorway of the Interrogation Room. Wrists freed and eyes narrowed in directed right at the master thief. "Well _he _got out earlier than expected. What a pain… I thought I got home free too this time." Naruto said with a pout.

"Uzumaki!" Sasuke roared, his anger simmering over like boiling pot. He was going to _murder _Naruto if it was the last thing he did. The blond played him for the fool way too many times for it to be legal and Sasuke was going to have his revenge.

"Oops," the blond started to slowly make his way for the entrance… "I guess that's my call to leave, eh? Gonna come over to visit him today?"

"Always do." Kakashi nodded.

"Don't you even fucking _think _about leaving, Uzumaki!" Sasuke snarled. He was closing the distance between him and Naruto and was imagining all the possible ways he could rip the man from limb to limb.

"Too late," the blond smirked and made a dash for the door, only to be stopped when Kakashi grabbed his wrist.

"Leave the diamond necklace on your way out, Naruto. Or I'll have to tell Iruka _all _about your latest robbery." Kakashi smiled like a true gentleman secretly plotting your death.

Naruto gulped; frantically looking back and forth between the doors and how far away Sasuke was from him. Sighing, Naruto reached into his front pocket and placed the diamond necklace into the commissioner's hands.

"You owe me for this." The blond barked, but it withheld any real ferocity. If he really wanted the diamond necklace, he could always borrow it again. Looking over his shoulder, Naruto flashed Sasuke a million watt smile, waved, and rushed out the door.

Sasuke growled in frustration watching the blond disappear from view. If it was the last thing he did he was going to find Naruto, strap him to a chair, and interrogate the hell out of him! Oh yes, he could see it now. Perhaps the chair could be electric as well... and maybe he could even bring in a stuffed panda for a feeling of false security. The twist being the panda doubled as a waiting time bomb. Sasuke inwardly cackled. So what if his thought patterns were borderline crazy at the moment? They were appealing and he actually knew someone who could provide him with an electric chair...

"Rough day?" Kakashi asked casually, a hint of amusement tinted his nonchalant voice.

The raven narrowed his eyes at the man who was idly typing away at the keyboard. That's right. Keep on typing. Sasuke was carefully planning out your interrogation as well. Perhaps your chair shall be seated over a cage of rabid pandas...

"Must you point out the obvious just to irk me?"

Kakashi looked up from the computer screen, eyes closed in content, a small smile was hidden beneath his mask. "Why yes. Yes I do, Sasuke." and with that said the man happily went back to his typing.

Sasuke merely growled, no longer in the mood to carry out an argument with Kakashi because normally such debates ended up with him on the losing side. He sighed listlessly and lazily picked up the diamond necklace. He toyed with it around with his fingers and lifted it up to the light for a better examination. It was definitely beautiful. A true work of art and for a few seconds Sasuke could understand why someone like Naruto would want to steal something like this. Sell it the right person for the right price and you'd be nicely set for life. And then there's the thrill aspect of stealing. Who wouldn't want to wear such a necklace as a medal of an accomplished larceny?

The raven shook his head and placed the necklace back on the desk. He needed a cup of coffee right now. With just the right amount of cream, some sugar, oh and some caramel for that wonderful aftertaste. Yeah… that's what he needed.

"I'm going to get some coffee." Sasuke mumbled and left for the wonderful coffee maker.

Kakashi chuckled; seemingly engrossed in his work when in reality he was thinking about how easy Sasuke was to figure out sometimes.

"Kids," he muttered and went back to work.

+Borrowed+

A happy little tune Naruto couldn't remember where he heard it from escaped his lips as he walked down the busy streets of Tokyo. Sapphire eyes scanned the crowds, sometimes flitting to an expensive looking purse or wallet or an abnormally bulging pocket. A smirk found its way onto his lips at all the cash and valuable objects people placed in such plain sight. It was so easy to bump into them, a trick of a hand, and you'd instantly have their money, watch, or cell phone. But that was only if you were _really _good. A skilled pick-pocket could easily swipe someone's valuables with a simple brush of the shoulders. Naruto could pick-pocket in his sleep if he wanted to, but he didn't. Mostly because he felt sorry for the people he stole from. They had their own lives, their own reasons hidden behind what they needed that wad of cash for. Since the guilt slowly started to eat him alive, Naruto stuck to stealing from stores and other fancy places like museums for example. That he didn't feel any guilt for. After all… he was only borrowing.

'_Such a twisted sense of morals,' _Naruto chuckled darkly as he turned a corner and entered into an alleyway. He _really _hated this alley. If he could, he would rent a wrecking ball and personally tear the place down with one swing. However he knew something like that was near to impossible to happen. Didn't stop him from _imagining _about it. This alleyway brought too many bad memories of his childhood up to the surface. Memories he thought he had buried long ago. _'Apparently not.' _He grimaced as he stared at a corner that was unnaturally darker than the other bricks on the walls…

Closing his eyes seemed like the best way to cope with walking through the alleyway. He blocked out all the sounds—the rats scurrying into the shadows, cats meowing in triumph of finding some fish scales, homeless men coughing from the smog and dirt. He simply withdrew himself from the tainted and ugly world the narrow strip provided. Naruto didn't want to be a part of that world, but sadly he was. He couldn't afford a better place because Iruka was adamant on the man saving whatever money he got from work for himself. A small, sad, smile appeared on the man's lips at the thought. Iruka had no idea about his 'side job' and he meant to keep it that way. It was a struggle, really, hiding it from him, but he knew that if Iruka learned about his thefts… it would break the man's heart.

_'If it's still even beating...'_

That was only the tip of the ice berg concerning all the secrets he hid from his "mother"… Finally—and thankfully—the walk through death was finally over and he was at the back door to his apartment. It wasn't the best, since he was saving up all his money for bigger and better things; like a nice little condo just for him and Iruka to live, and possibly Kakashi if the man played his cards right. He couldn't reveal he had such a stash _now _because as stated before, Iruka couldn't know about his other job. He had told the man countless times that he was working part time at the bookstore. Actually, Naruto _did _work at the bookstore. Was well known and got a good pay for it too—not good enough to afford the life of luxury Iruka deserved, but enough to scrape by. The bookstore was his hotspot for the latest gossip, and his informants liked to leave him little tidbits on places where he could pull off a good heist or two.

Each heist grew Naruto closer and closer to his goal: a better life for Iruka. He didn't care if he'd get thrown in jail one day when a cop finally decided to throw him in a cell and lock away the key. As long as he knew Iruka was safe was all that mattered. The man had literally thrown away his whole life just to raise him. And for that, Naruto owed him his life. He would do anything just to make Iruka happy.

That's why it hurt so much every time he had to hide the truth from him…

When he entered the house using the backdoor, the words: "I'm home, Iruka!" nearly jumped out of Naruto's throat. He locked up those words just as he shut the door behind him and turned the lock. "I'll never get used to this..." Naruto sighed as he walked over to the living room.

Emptiness. The word carried a lot of emotions intertwined in those nine letters. Loneliness gripped his heart towards overwhelming, choking pressures. He was more aware of everything as he went from room to room. When his eyes locked with the kitchen, a projection of Iruka standing there busying himself with dinner assaulted his mind. Passing the stairway brought back memories of all the time Iruka would chase him up and down those steps because of something stupid Naruto had down. The most painful thing to look at, though, was the small living room. It looked ten times bigger through Naruto's eyes.

A lot of nights were spent with just the two curled up on the couch, watching late night movies and blabbering about everything. Iruka was the only thing he had left in the world. The only person Naruto would stand up and _fight _for. And now... Naruto chewed on his bottom lip, plopping down in the middle of the couch and leaning forward for the remote on the coffee table.

"Get a grip, Uzumaki." he whispered to himself, flicking on the news only to drown out the unbearable silence around him. "Let's see what hot spots to hit next." this was how he usually spent his evenings after a long day at the bookstore or after a long day of pointless interrogation. He hummed a listless tune, fishing in his pocket for a neatly folded up piece of stationary paper.

_YOU OWE ME DINNER, A MOVIE, AND A BLOWJOB—KIBA. _

Naruto shook his head at his partner in crime's lousy handwriting. "He's starting to make this a habit," he chuckled as he read down the list of stores to hit for the night. "There's about three jewelry stores that jump out of me..." Naruto had a way of picking out his next targets. Out of the ten Kiba sent to him in a list, only three would jump out of him by name and recognition. Then he opened up his laptop, Googled the stores, and searched for their most valuable piece.

"Ooo," Naruto's lips curled in a smile, "M. Jewelers has a pretty little beaut just _begging _to be borrowed." he could get a pretty little penny off it too. His mouth literally watered imagining what it would be like to hold those earrings in his hand. "Gotta call Kiba."

"_Yo, Naruto. Calling me for that blowjob?"_

"Get a hobby, mutt. I'm calling you about my next hit and run."

"_Damn," _Naruto could literally feel the disappointment leak out of his partner's voice. _"And here I was, all excited for those pretty little lips." _

"I'm about to disown you if you don't drop it," Naruto warned.

Kiba backed off—for now. _"Fine. Fine. We'll talk about my payment another time. So, what store are you eying up, huh? Nicole's Palace has this beautiful little gem shoved on a ring that would shine nicely in the underworld." _

"I saw, but if I were to sell it I would barely scrape up half a million. Besides, that gem's not even real sapphire. It's probably cobalt heated up to be extremely blue."

"_No kidding," _Kiba whistled, amazed at how keen his partner could be when it came to these things. _"Well then if it's not the palace then where?"_

"Jewelers, north of the newspaper building. They have these pair of earrings on exhibition and when I saw them I remembered that someone we all know and love was missing an exact replica of the earrings."

"_Ms. Yamanaka?"_

"Bingo," Naruto grinned. He could see the eccentric woman squealing over those earrings and knew she would pay a ridiculous amount just to have them back.

"_Not bad, my man, not bad at all. That and you know Ino will probably die from happiness when she gets those earrings back. I'll get to work on the layout of the place for you."_

Naruto leaned back against the couch, "Oh you're too kind. Maybe you'll get that blow job after all."

"_That's what I'm betting for!"_

The blond laughed, "E-mail the layout and other things once you're done, then we'll talk about your reward."

"_Sounds like a plan! Kiba, over and out." _

Naruto touched the END button and sighed, rubbing the pads of his hands over his forehead. The adrenaline of a new theft was furiously pumping in his veins, making his fingers twitch and his legs ache to get moving. But he had to be patient. Night hadn't fallen yet and to strike now while the area was busy and crowded would be pointless and suicidal. His mind was also wracking ways on how to pay Kiba back. Sure, the blow job was an option but Kiba said that more out of jest than anything else.

"I'll buy him a new video game console," Naruto decided. The man had been whining none-stop that his Xbox had mysteriously 'broken' and what he was working at now wouldn't be enough to buy a new one. "That should be enough." he turned to look at the clock on the wall; 7:35. "Visiting hours are still open..." pushing himself off the couch, Naruto grabbed his keys and headed for the outside world.

+Stolen+

Sasuke was barely pushing his breaking point as he glared daggers at his computer screen that _refused _to work today. "Damn it all!" he cursed and swiveled around his chair.

"Now Sasuke, what did I warn you about cursing at inanimate objects?" Kakashi teased. He was walking by from the water cooler when he saw Sasuke's little spat. _'Some days he makes it _so _easy.' _

"Screw off, Hatake." Sasuke snapped. Kakashi purposely pushed his buttons just to get a rise out of the man and one of these days Sasuke was just going to punch him in the face; hard.

"Good to see your manners have improved. Just like week you were saying: 'Fuck off'."

"If you have something important to say, spit it out. If not leave me the hell alone. I'm busy."

"Busy with a malfunctioning computer, I see." Kakashi leaned against the door frame and leisurely sipped his coffee. "Surprisingly enough I didn't come here to annoy you."

"Oh really?" Sasuke let loose every ounce of sarcasm and let it drip onto his words. "You could have fooled me."

"I know. I've surprised even myself. Seriously though, Orochimaru have a new case for you."

A shiver ripped through Sasuke's body. _'Ugh...' _He looked up at Kakashi with distaste shining in his eyes. "Are you sure it wasn't Sasori he wanted?"

"Nope." Kakashi took another sip, "The Commish asked for you himself."

The raven groaned and rubbed his forehead with his hand. "Dear Lord have mercy..." he really hated his commissioner. Orochimaru was as creepy as all get out. His tongue was abnormally long and he had a tendency to make lewd jokes and comments on everything and anything Sasuke did. Being around him made Sasuke feel like he was coiling up with snakes.

"I suggest you get on your knees and pray," Kakashi said with a smirk. "Orochimaru has been feeling especially _chipper _these days."

"Shoot me. Just fucking shoot me now."

+Borrowed+

"Evening, Naruto-kun," Sakura Haruno smiled sweetly as Naruto sauntered up to the counter.

Naruto used the smile he always did to charm people and leaned against the front desk, "Hey there, beautiful. I swear you get prettier every time I come here."

Sakura, who was very used to Naruto's advances, swiftly brushed him down and slid a clipboard with a sign-in sheet towards the edge of the desk. "You're cute, but not that cute. Now sign here and leave the time you entered over here."

The blond sighed dejectedly, although he expected such a brush-off from the woman since it happened all the time. "Come on, Sakura. At least play along with me _once_!" he signed the paper and pushed it back with a pout, "It's no fun if you don't get into it."

"All right. Next time if you bring me some flowers I'll play along." She smiled sweetly, "I love Lilies."

"Lilies. Got it." Naruto gave her a thumbs up before heading off to room 808. Tokyo General Hospital—one of the best in the area. It housed up to five thousand rooms all scattered around ten levels. It was the first place Naruto thought of that fateful day when a part of his world was ripped away. He had come there often before the incident because of Sakura. They were friends from high school and she was one of the few people who could actually put up with his crazy antics. The two were best friends, siblings almost, and Naruto cherished their friendship more than anything.

"Room 808," he whispered, standing in front of the door that separated him from this world and a brutal reality. Naruto had stood before this door many times, and every time hesitation, regret, guilt, remorse, and other heart-wrenching emotions tackled him and made his knees weak. "You can do this." he told himself over and over again like a mantra as he gripped onto the metal door handled and turned it...

A room full of white. Soft and steady beeping noises flooded his ears. The blinds were open, allowing rays of sunlight to bombard the room. In the middle of it all strapped to wires and machines was Iruka, looking peacefully dead in a serene and sterile room of white.

Before, Naruto would cry entering this room. He'd cry. He'd scream. He'd kick things over and he'd curse at God for allowing such a tragic thing to happen. Now... he stood like a brick—cold and unmoving. He learned how to paint on a fake smile that hid away every powerful emotion that wanted to break down his walls.

"Hey, Iruka." he sat down on a chair beside the bed the doctors never really moved. It was Naruto's chair, after all. "How have you been? You're looking pretty good right now. Ha, your hair's even growing out like you've always wanted." his smile was soft and warm as he ran his fingers through Iruka's hair. "That new book you wanted comes out tomorrow. I'll bring it for you, okay? The female workers gushed that it was Jiraiya-sensei's best work yet."

Naruto intertwined his fingers with Iruka's, mentally counting down the minutes he had left before Hinata, another nurse, would quietly come in and tell him it was time to leave. He'd sway for more time—which he always got—and stay there for a little longer before he told Iruka _everything _about his day and felt well enough to leave.

"Kakashi said he'd come visit you, too. Hopefully he comes soon. I know how much you miss him and I know he really misses you too..." small crystals dangled by Naruto's eyes but as quickly as they formed they evaporated into nothing. Naruto leaned forward and kissed Iruka on the forehead. "Come back to us soon... We... I... I really need you."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata knocked on the door shyly, a small blush scarring her cheeks, "visiting hours are over."

Naruto managed to slip on a mask that showed how 'okay' he really was. "All right. Thanks for telling me." he got up from the chair and headed for the door. "Hey Hinata, what's your favorite flower?"

"H-Huh?" Hinata stuttered and looked at Naruto with alarm. She couldn't read anything from the easy smile on his face. "W-Why do you a-ask that?"

The blond couldn't help but chuckle at how cute the woman could be. She had a minor stuttering problem whenever she got really nervous or really shy. He noticed a long time ago that the girl had a crush on him, but to keep up his oblivious front Naruto pretended not to notice. "Well I was thinking of bringing Sakura lilies tomorrow and thought it would only be fair to bring you some too. So what's your favorite flower?"

"I-I like daisies..."

"Cute flower for a cute girl," Naruto winked. "Daises and Lilies, very feminine I like it." blue eyes peeked back at the man curled in nothing but white. They dulled slightly. "Do you think Iruka would like some Lilacs or something...? His room looks so..."

Dead.

Hinata gave a small smile. She could see the word Naruto refused to use hanging in the room around them. "I think Lilacs would be a wonderful idea. This room needs a little color."

A little light popped back into Naruto's eyes. "I was thinking the same thing! Thanks, Hinata." he placed a hand on her shoulder as he walked out, "I'll see you tomorrow! Same time, same place."

She watched the man disappear around the corner and out of sight. A heavy sigh pressed out of her chest as she walked down the opposite way to finish her rounds. "I wish he wouldn't try so hard sometimes..."

It was tough carrying all that pain and trouble by yourself.

+Stolen+

"Ah, Sasuke-kun. You're looking nice today." Orochimaru leered and leaned forward on his desk, licking his lips. "Navy is really your color."

"Thanks," Sasuke bit out curtly. His arms were folded across his chest and his back was pressed far into the seat, pushing forth as much space between him and the commissioner as possible. "Kakashi said you had a case for me. What is it?"

"So quick to jump the gun. That's a risky attribute to have... but also an attractive one as well."

A _coooold _shiver jumped up Sasuke's spine.

"Out with it." the faster he could move this conversation along, the faster he could high tail it out of the man's office.

Orochimaru chuckled and pulled out a bulky manilla folder. He opened it up and pulled out a stapled packet of papers. "This, is your case." he pointed to the gray and white picture of the man in question and Sasuke's eyebrows nearly shot to his hairline.

"That's..."

"Naruto Uzumaki," Orochimaru finished. "Age 21 with a long string of larcenies trailing behind him like a tail that no one can ever seem to pin-point to him. The man has evaded jail time for so long, but over the years we have something we can use against him." he flipped to the next page, "Over the past few months a string of major thefts have popped up all over Tokyo and neighboring cities."

"And you think Uzumaki is the culprit." It was easy enough to pick out considering how Orochimaru was steering his words. Sasuke didn't believe the man for one bit, though.

"I don't think he is, I know he is. There's a difference." Orochimaru curled his lips and flipped to the next page. "However, we cannot simply barge into his home and take him without proper evidence to back our suspicions up."

_'Obviously,' _Sasuke rolled his eyes but bit back his tongue. His stomach was lurching with how Orochimaru was going to instill him with this case. "So what do you need me for?"

The smile Orochimaru shot him nearly left Sasuke dead.

"You, my dear Sasuke-kun, will be our little weasel—so to speak. You'll warm your way into Naruto's home. Get close to him. Become friends. And then when you've found the last, incriminating piece to the puzzle—book him."

Ice formed around Sasuke's throat, his eyes widened slightly. Did Orochimaru seriously just tell him to _lie _and get close to Naruto just... just so they could complete a case? "Uzumaki hasn't done major crimes for _years _now. What makes you think he'll start up again?"

Orochimaru smirked lazily and put a piece of his long, black hair behind his ear. "Reasons."

"I'm not doing it." Sasuke stood up from the chair and headed for the door until Orochimaru's next words slashed him across the back.

"Itachi would be so disappointed in you right now." the man sighed with shame and lazily twirled a piece of hair with his finger.

Sasuke gritted his teeth. His grip on the door handle was so strong he nearly snapped it off. "Don't bring him up. We both know Itachi had _morals _he stood by."

"Oh. I know that very well, but Itachi also knew when to put them aside for the sake of a job. You want to overcome his shadow, don't you? If little Uchiha can't even handle a simple case like this..."

Sasuke turned around and narrowed his eyes with fierce determination. "I'll do it." the words burned his tongue but he wasn't about to back down from Orochimaru's blatant challenge now. He would show this man just well he could handle this case and shut him up for good.

_Just one more step out into the light..._

Orochimaru smirked with the satisfaction that he had just won. "Excellent. Now sit down. We'll review more aspects of your case and then send you out."

Sasuke knew he was going to regret blurring his morals the minute he sat back down in that seat.

* * *

><p>Well. That's chapter two for you beautiful people ;o alkfakljfajkfl sorry if this was boring. Chapter three will also be... a little boring, but by chapter four I hope to get into the beautiful, awkward, romance of Sasuke and Naruto :D! SO YEAH. EHEM. UH. PANDAS ARE CUTE. OH YEAAAH. And legit I want to start writing Pokemon Fanfiction o.o...<p>

Till next time :D!


	3. Casual Encounters

I wanted to get this out rather quickly because I'm so excited for chapter four C: It's like alkfjaslfkjsafjaf (to me!) I'm also having the urge to write my own originial slash fiction on fictionpress... but I'm a little hesitant you know? ;o. Gah. Maybe I'll just stick to fanfiction. Also I'm pretty bummed. Soo this A/N will be short. Tonight's just not my night.

**Warning: Right now I feel pretty boring because I want to cuddle but I have no one to cuddle with so this really isn't a warning for the actual story D: You can say there's a little progress. That or Naruto just likes to touch our little raven a little too much c; NO SHAAAAME!**

**Disclaimer: Can SOPA censor that word or...?**

Enjoy :D!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Three: Casual Encounters<strong>

Naruto peered through the dust-covered window of M. Jewelers. "No one in sight... for now." he muttered and dug into his hair for his handy dandy bobby pin. "Never leave home without it," Naruto smirked and tip-toed over to the back door. He crouched down and shoved the bobby pin into the keyhole, shimming it around and around until he heard the gentle _click _of the lock opening. "Bingooo."

Inside was dark and filled to the brim of nothing but overwhelming perfume. Naruto stuck out his tongue and nearly gagged, "Women... they always over-indulge." Well, that couldn't necessarily be a bad thing since it was normally the ones who over-indulged he got the biggest pay from. With the silence of a shadow Naruto crossed the distance between him and his prize in a matter of seconds. His mouth poured out a waterfall when his eyes landed on his prize...

"Oh God..." he licked his lips and wiggled his fingertips. "I don't care if everything thinks I'm a whack job with a sickness—stealing shiny stuff will _never _not be fun to steal!" Naruto dug into his pocket and pulled out a tiny little vial of concentrated acid. _'Kiba...' _Naruto pulled off the cork and stuck that in his pocket, _'I don't want to know where the hell you get this stuff, but I love you.' _

For jobs, Naruto took the time to be as careful and discreet as possible. He wore gloves, slipped on a wig and glasses, purposefully wore a pair of combat boots two pairs bigger, and placed a photograph of the empty store in front of any visible or non-visible cameras. It was a safety precaution as well as something to screw the cops up with. Thinking of _one _cop in particular...

"I bet Sasuke's gonna _flip_," Naruto chuckled as he pulled out his prized earrings and held them up in the air. "Oh, the look on his face. Damn when that man is angry..." a shiver tangoed up his spine. His wild obsession with the raven had spurred into an on again off again fire that would come and go whenever he thought of the man. It was the sort of affection that once it came, it went away but left some scars in its path—scars that radiated gentle bursts of heat whenever Sasuke happened to pop into his mind.

The blond smirked and pulled out a little plastic baggy to drop in the earrings. "You, my dearies, are going to give Papa Naru a beautiful bundle of green!" he kissed the baggy and dropped it in a little compartment inside his jacket. "Now then... a little decoy," he grabbed a random stuffed animal he picked up at the toy store a few blocks away and dropped in onto of the cushion. "There! Like they were never even stolen."

He didn't bother to make sure the glass case looked not tampered with because really, it would be quite obvious in the morning the earrings were stolen. Until then Naruto turned a blind eye and walked out of the store, whistling a happy tune; very unaware that eyes were following him all the way down the street...

+Borrowed+

"Ma'am, I can't understand you if you're bawling incoherently."

It was four o'clock in the morning when Sasuke was rudely by his walkie-talkie informing him of a break-in at a local jeweler. Just his luck the jeweler was an hour's drive from his house and heading through traffic was like trying to navigate the lower pits of Hell. So, having to deal with a babbling, spastic, incomprehensible woman at five-thirty in the morning was grating on the last bits of Sasuke's sanity.

"My... my jewels—my babies! They're gone! Gone I tell you! Do you know how much I spend to have those beautiful gems in my collection?" the woman blew into her hanky and shot Sasuke a pointed glare that _dared _him to ask.

"I'm betting you paid a lot, Ma'am."

"4.6 million yen! That's how much!"

Sasuke held back the urge to scoff at the clearly traumatized woman. _'Why even ask me if you were going to answer it yourself...?' _And this is why Sasuke couldn't handle women—they were so damn confusing. He inwardly sighed and prayed that someone would step in right now so he wouldn't have to handle this psychotic woman all by himself.

"Ah, Sasuke. I see you're calming down the victim rather nicely." of course it would be Kakashi to step in and take over things.

_'Of all the people...' _Sasuke gritted his teeth and nodded in response. "She's speaking coherently now." he's a miracle worker everyone...

Kakashi smiled. "Well that's always good." he bent down to the woman's level and brushed a few strands of her hair out of her eyes, "Come on now. Tell us everything you know. We'll do all we can to help."

Sasuke released a sigh of relief as he walked away from the weeping woman. '_Thank God for Kakashi.' _Kakashi was better suited for handling reckless and distraught victims better than Sasuke could. The raven was more of a "give me the evidence, and I'll figure out the crime" sort of guy.

Other cops filtered in and out of the crime scene, examining different places for any hints of footprints, fingerprints, broken glass—whatever would lead to the perpetrator. '_The camera's a bust,' _Sasuke thought, looking at the flickering TV the cops had brought in to look at the video footage from last night; nothing but an empty jewelry store. '_Crafty, but predictable.' _

He stopped in his tracks in front of the tampered glass case. It sported a huge hole in the front—big enough for a hand to fit through. A flash of blond sparked through his mind immediately. '_I have a hunch a certain annoying kleptomaniac is behind this.' _Sasuke gritted his teeth. He peered closer into the case and, to his surprise, saw small strands of golden hair lying where the earrings should have been.

"That little…" Sasuke whirled around and started for the door. Was this all some game for the blond? How could he leave such incriminating evidence behind at the crime scene like that? Naruto wasn't sloppy. He was a master thief, a perfectionist through and through.

Sasuke stormed passed Kakashi, only to be stopped by the man before he exited the store. "Going to find him, huh?"

The raven scoffed and opened the door, "No. I'm going to find him _then _kill him. No one plays games with me."

Kakashi watched the raven fly out the door and head for his car, shaking his head all the way. "He's so predictable…" with a sigh, he plastered on another smile and went back to comforting the victim. "It's going to be okay. We'll get your earrings back, no worries. Now would you like some coffee? I make a mean cup filled with vanilla and caramel."

+Stolen+

Naruto waltzed to the front door of a grand mansion—stained with marble, dipped in crystal, and overflowing with exuberance. "Ino always was one for making a big show out of anything." He stood off to the side, pressed on a slightly indented wall and watched with bored indifference as a small black box appeared.

The screen flickered and a picture of Ino Yamanaka appeared, practically glowing with excitement. "_Naruto, is that you? My you've grown even cuter since I last saw you!"_

"You saw me last week, Ino." Naruto chuckled.

"_Last week equals ten years in my mind!" _Ino waved her hand at the thought and pressed her face closer to the screen so Naruto only saw one ice blue eye. "_So how did your latest borrow go? I do hope you have my precious babies! That wretched Lady M stole my earrings from me at my last auction and I haven't been the same since!" _

Naruto dug into his pocket and pulled out the small plastic baggy holding the earrings. He shook his latest catch with pride. "I have them just like you requested. I even polished them up a little before I got here."

"_Oh Naruto! You are too good to me!" _She gushed. "_Would you like to come in for some tea? My hubby's out on business and I'm really lonely all by myself."_

"I would but I have to get to work soon. The bookstore's doing this midnight release of this new book that's wildly popular with the teenagers—especially the _females_." Naruto shuddered. Teenage girls were extremely ferocious when you got in the way of them and want they wanted. "I'll just put this in the slot and you can pick it up from there."

"_Aww, all right." _Ino pressed a button and a black slot popped out from the black box. "_You really need to come over sometime, though! I miss having you around."_

The blond nodded and slid the baggy into the slot. "I know. I know. I've just been really busy. I promise to come visit you when I have some free time."

"_Good!" _She beamed as she held up her earrings, practically tearing them out of the baggy and hooking them through her ears. She pulled back her long, platinum hair and smiled. "_What do you think?"_

"Gorgeous as always."

"_Naruto you are truly a girl's best friend!" _

+Borrowed+

When Sasuke had left the crime scene he had driven out of there more on blind fury rather than with a destination. So when he ended up in the middle of the shopping district, surrounded by people of various shapes and sizes, he was more than a little confused—and highly annoyed.

"Damn it all," he slammed his forehead against the top of his steering wheel. He was just so stressed this days and he didn't even know why! "No… I know why. That damned commissioner of mine has been bothering none stop about this case for days." The case, as you may already know, involved a pesky kleptomaniac with blond hair. Day in and day out Orochimaru would pull Sasuke into his office to talk about their plan.

"Get close to him. Make him feel safe and gain his trust. Then dig up anything you can about these string of robberies."

Sasuke scoffed as the words replayed over and over again in his mind. "Easier said than done…" It didn't help one bit that his conscience was screaming on and on about how _wrong _this was. He knew Naruto wasn't a bad guy—well, that was still up for debate—all those months studying the mysterious thief had told him that Naruto always gave back to whoever he "borrowed" from but Orochimaru didn't see it that way. "And now I'm going to have to earn his trust just to break it…"

Blindly, Sasuke fumbled for the radio dial hoping some music would drown out the guilt hanging heavily around his shoulders. Winter was here and all around the raven's car was a world of white. People looked a lot bulkier with their huge winter jackets on while Sasuke only had a black trench coat and some gloves to combat the cold. He shivered.

"I feel so damn pathetic." He risked looking up and a flash of blond caught his eyes. His jaw dropped slightly because he knew that back. He knew those spiky golden locks that reached for the December sky. On instinct his hands flew for the lock, pulled it open, and he dashed out of his car. He pushed through the flow of people, his hands outstretching for that back he so wanted to touch…

"Uzumaki!" he shouted and nearly tackled the blond to the ground.

Naruto turned around just in time to catch Sasuke though with the momentum and the raven's weight sent them hurdling for the ground anyways. "Oompf! Ugh… what in the…" he blinked sporadically, blue eyes opening up to stare at the raven looming over top of him. '_Oh… what a lovely surprise. Though I'm sure everyone around us is scarred for life.' _Naruto smirked lazily and twirled his finger around a lock of raven hair, "Normally I like to top but I must say seeing you like this is making me change my preferences."

The blush that attacked Sasuke's face was way too cute for words.

"Shut up, Uzumaki. I'm bringing you in."

"For what? If anything _I _should be the one bringing _you _in." a mischievous glint shined in his eyes. "This time you'll be the one in handcuffs and I'll make sure to punish you thoroughly."

"I don't think so." And just to make sure the blond didn't have any hidden handcuffs anywhere, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrists and held them firmly in place. "You won't be going anywhere until you fess up."

"Fess up about what?" there was pure innocence written on Naruto's face—a sure sign that the blond was guilty of _something_.

"I'm not going to sit here and play Twenty Questions all day. You know what you did, now give back the earrings you stole."

"Sorry but I didn't _steal _any earrings. Although I did borrow a pair earlier today…"

Oh how Sasuke absolutely hated Naruto's sense of logic. It was twisted and warped just like the blond's mind. Sasuke gritted his teeth and added a little pressure to his grip. "Give them back Naruto and I promise you'll only get a week in jail."

"A week? Is that the best you can come up with Sasuke? And here I thought you would make this interesting for me seeing you have me pinned down in public…"

Sasuke finally remembered that they were in fact, surrounded by people. When he looked up he saw the mixed emotions of disgust, surprise, awe, and then some. He cleared his throat awkwardly and removed his hands from Naruto's wrists to get up only to have a strong pair of arms grip his waist and pull him down. He gasped at the motion. His body was completely flushed with Naruto's—molded and meshed. Their hips brushed against each other in scandalous ways.

Naruto saw the brief brush of pleasure come across the raven's face and inwardly cheered. '_He's so cute when he tries to fight me off.' _A terribly wicked idea crossed his mind and being the sort of man he was he went through with it. His hands deftly found their way to Sasuke's ass and gave it a nice squeeze.

"Uzumaki!" Sasuke growled.

"Oh God I love it when you say my name."

"Stop this right now!"

"What's 'this' and why should I stop?" Naruto giggled as Sasuke started to sputter out gibberish out of anger. Yup. Making fun of Sasuke would never get old. "Ohhh, you mean embarrassing you in public? Well you could ask nicely…"

"Not a chance!"

"Then forever stay glued to my pelvis. I must warn you my lower half is very insatiable and has issues keeping calm when a sexy little raven is lying on top of—"

He was cut off by Sasuke's swift knee to the groin that effectively brought the two apart. '_Okay, ouch! I deserved that but still…' _Naruto slowly sat up from the ground; rubbing his abused crotch as he watched the raven try to gather up whatever dignity he had left. "Was that really necessary?"

Sasuke glared. "For you? Yes."

"Ooo," Naruto stood up and brushed small flakes of snow from his winter coat, "I feel so special."

"You're not. Now hand over what you stole."

"Borrowed," Naruto raised a finger in the air.

Sasuke glared even deeper. "_Stole_."

"Nooo, borrowed. Actually, more like returned but I was never one for specifics." He waved his hand at the matter, figuratively brushing it off.

This peaked Sasuke's interest—slightly. "Returned?" he asked with an eyebrow cocked highly in the air.

"Yep. Returned. She stole those earrings at the jeweler's—which I'm guessing you're talking about— from a good friend of mine. My friend was really distraught about it so being the good man I am I got them back for her."

"That's the biggest load of bull I think I've ever heard come out of your mouth."

"Well it's the truth." Naruto shrugged and jammed his hands in his pocket. The brisk air left a chill over his bones, causing a deep shiver to run through him. "You can believe me or you can brush me off and pull out those kinky handcuffs of yours. But if I were you I'd dig a little deeper into the woman's background. Lady M's not as innocent as she appears."

Sasuke took some time to process the information Naruto was throwing at him so easily. Could he really trust the blond? He seemed sincere… "How do I know you're not lying?"

"You don't. There's this thing called a gut and sometimes you're just gonna have to go with it." Naruto looked up towards the sky before clucking his tongue and giving Sasuke one of his killer smiles. "Sorry to cut this wonderful moment short but I have to be at work in…" he looked up at the sky again, "five minutes and if I'm late you'll probably never see me again."

"Can't say I'd miss you." Sasuke scoffed.

"You're so cute when you lie."

"Wasn't lying."

"Uh huh. Sure. But seriously, I'm running late. Come find me when you're done with your case and tell me how shocked Lady M looks when you find out her little secret." Naruto turned to walk away but a hand gripped onto his arm and made him stay put.

Sasuke had merely reached out on impulse than anything else. So when their eyes met—brilliant blue clashing with dull onyx—Sasuke had to think a little on what to say next. "H-How am I supposed to find you if I don't even know where you live?"

Naruto pondered this for a while before pulling out a pen and grabbing Sasuke's hand. He scribbled down a name and flashed a smile. "Come by here on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Those are my workdays. I'll treat you to some coffee and books. Don't keep me waiting too long! I love a good story!" With that Naruto pulled a part from the raven and disappeared into the ground.

Onyx eyes dropped down to his hand, the inking tickling his sensitive palm. He read over the name numerous times.

"_The Hidden World_," he read a loud. He scoffed and clenched his fingers. "Sounds like a place a criminal would hang out." Just then his phone rang—it was Kakashi. "Talk to me."

"_Blunt as always I see."_

"Don't waste my minutes. Any leads on the case?" Naruto's words ran over and over again through the raven's mind.

"_A few… some more startling than others. Did you know that the earrings that were stolen previously belonged to a woman called Ino Yamanaka?"_

"Of Yamanaka Enterprises?" Yamanaka Enterprises was a huge media company with its finger in every pie. If there was a secret hidden underneath the crust, you better believe Yamanaka Enterprises would be at the site digging up every inch until the secret was uncovered.

"_That's the one. Apparently Lady M isn't as innocent as we thought. Come back to the station. We can talk more there."_

Sasuke mumbled a goodbye and snapped his phone shut. This time Naruto's words hit him louder and harder.

"_Lady M's not as innocent as she appears."_

"Well I'll be…" Sasuke shook his head and headed back for his car. Who would have thought that Naruto was actually… right?

* * *

><p>Was this chapter okay? I do hope so! Please leave a review so I know how you all like this story c: FOR THE PANDAS! LMFAO. I had to bring that back:D. But really your feedback would be really appreciative! Till next time:D<p> 


	4. Surprising Events

Once again guys thanks for your reviews/love/support. I decided that later on tonight I'll be uploading Resurfaced and focus my attention on these two stories. I owe you guys Resurfaced for a while now and I managed to dig up all 12 chapters of the fic. So I'll be editing them, adding more details, working on my plot, and yeah (:

**Warning: Well nothing but stilly humor and a progress in the plot...which is a first ;o**

**Disclaimer: I don't even know what this word means...**

ENJOY :D!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: Surprising Events<strong>

Sasuke looked down on the tiny slip of paper scarred with neat cursive. _The Hidden World _was a large bookstore located in the middle of the city. From the outside it looked like a huge apartment complex but when you entered the glass double-doors you become immersed in a world of new books, old books, worn books, read books; a million stories ready to be read and purchased. However, our lovely raven wasn't in the mood to read today. Oh no. He was here to settle some things.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Sasuke muttered softly as he entered into the bookstore. His eyes went from room to room, scanning for that familiar mount of golden blond hair he—sadly—had become used to pointing out.

"Might I add that this series by her is becoming steadily popular. The plot seems typical but once you read the first couple of chapters you can tell she put a lot of twists to make her story unique. I urge you to buy this book—and I'll even throw in a free kiss on the cheek from yours truly!"

Sasuke knew that voice very well—it was annoying, high-pitched, but somehow overloading with enough charm to woo just about anyone to his whims. _'Flamboyant as always.' _Then Orochimaru's words to him from before hit his thoughts and rattled his head.

_'Get to know him inside and out. And remember to smile—or in your case, twitch your lips. Make him feel comfortable around you and don't insult him too much.'_

The raven snorted at the memory. Go a day without insulting Naruto the kleptomaniac? Yeah sure. When Hell freezes over.

"Uzumaki!" He wasn't going to just stand there and wait for the blond to notice him. No. He had no patience for that. Though he had to admit seeing Naruto in such a relaxed and _normal _environment definitely threw him off.

Naruto turned around, the girl he was talking to pouting slightly at being interrupted. When he saw Sasuke standing near the door like the socially awkward man he was, a big smile ripped across his face. "Hold on a minute, dear. My man candy just stopped by and I _must _flirt with him!" he practically skipped over to Sasuke (why yes, mostly to embarrass him in public) and nearly tackled him to the ground. "Oh, love! You've come to me for lunch, right? I want a bagel! No. Scratch that. Two bagels! No I don't even want bagels anymore! Buy me some crepes!"

Sasuke had his arms wrapped around Naruto's waist purely on instinct but when he came aware of just how questioning their position was with Naruto's arms around his neck, Sasuke pulled back until there was at least six inches of space between them and cleared his throat. "I didn't come here to feed the insane; and where do you get off calling me love!"

"Oh I get off calling you love _every _night," Naruto purred. He cackled at the adorable blush that proudly conquered Sasuke's face._ 'He makes this _so_ easy!' _

"Is the only thing you're good at making sexual jokes? And before you answer _anything _don't give me your normal 'I'm fantastic in bed' shit because I don't really care."

"Ouch," Naruto pouted, "and to think I've been waiting for you all day and this is how you treat me?" he sniffed and turned up his nose, "No wonder you're freaking single."

For a minute Sasuke almost forgot why he had risked whatever sanity he had left to visit Naruto's workplace so he could retort something witty but pulled himself together. Now was _not _the time to banter back and forth with Naruto. Now was the time to get some answers.

"I didn't come here to stand around and chat like idiots all day," Sasuke stated simply.

Naruto smiled knowingly and ran a hand through his spiky locks. "Oh I know. You came here for answers, right? Specifically answers regarding Lady M and Ms. Yamanaka." Sasuke nodded and Naruto smiled a little wider. "Well I can't answer them _now _silly goose. My break doesn't start till twelve and it's only 11:45."

Sasuke could feel a vein pop in his head. "Go on break earlier. This is a matter of deep importance."

Naruto shrugged in a 'what am I supposed to do?' sort of way. "Can't. Boss flipped the last time I took my break early. I _told _him a certain cop had me tied down and wouldn't let go of me but he didn't believe me. So what is a guy to do? You could wait for me though. Our bookstore has a nice little cafe and there are a ton of books you can read while you wait."

The prospect of sitting around in a large bookstore filled with strangers waiting for _Naruto _made Sasuke's stomach flop. If you hadn't noticed the man wasn't your average social butterfly, he was more of an anti-social moth who clung to the shadows. He liked the shadows. They were cold and welcoming.

"How long am I going to have to wait?" Sasuke growled.

Naruto tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well it's 11:50 now. So I'd say about ten minutes give or take."

"No give. Ten minutes, Uzumaki. Keep me waiting any longer and I'll snap."

"Ooo, I love it when you snap! You are so damn sexy that I just want to—"

Naruto didn't have the chance to finish that sentence because Sasuke had promptly thrown an encyclopedia at his face.

+Stolen: Ten Minutes Later+

"Miss me?"

"Nope."

Naruto plopped down in the seat across from Sasuke and pouted. "Damn. Are you always so cold to the ones you love?"

Sasuke snorted and picked apart a random scone he bought on impulse. "Don't think you're special. I treat everyone this way." there was an awkward silence hanging in the air. _'Crap. Was that too much?' _Sasuke was supposed to woo the blond, not scare him away.

A few seconds later when Sasuke actually had the courage to look Naruto in the eye, the blond was giggling and brushing a few strands of hair out of his face. "Right. I forgot I'm pretty much the nobody kleptomaniac who gets on your nerves."

Sasuke's eyebrows shot upwards. "T-That's... I never—Uzumaki don't turn this into a drama fest. I never said that about you."

The blond shrugged listlessly. "I'm very keen. I can tell stuff..." he leaned forward, "looking into people's eyes like a psychic! Fear me!"

Sasuke blinked rapidly at how fast Naruto's personality could curve like that. One minute he was hyperactive and into everybody's face and the next he was a moping bag of potatoes spewing line after line of emotional stuff. It made Sasuke wonder just which side of Naruto was the real one and which was just a fake he used to confuse the hell out of people.

"You're insane." Sasuke said.

"Most criminals are. But not every criminal is as handsome as I am." Naruto winked but suddenly his face turned very serious. "So you came to talk to me about Lady M, huh? Let's talk."

This time Sasuke was ready for the mood swing and leaned back in his upholstered seat. "A week ago you told me Lady M stole most of the jewels in her store."

Naruto nodded. "That I did. And let me guess... I was right, right?"

Sasuke would stab himself later for admitting this... "Yes... you were... right."

"Told you! Fucking told you, Sasuke!" Naruto slapped his hand against the table, "This calls for a celebratory toast! Coffee? Tea? Root beer?"

"None. I'm not done yet." he shot the blond a pointed glare that managed to shut him up for another ten , precious seconds. "We did a background check later that day and found out she was tied to some very sketchy dealings in the underground."

"She dealt with a lot more than pretty rocks and shiny chains," Naruto nodded in affirmation. He caught the gaze Sasuke was sending him and smirked, "We worked together once on a little borrowing project our higher ups gave us."

"So _that's_ how you knew!" Sasuke had pegged the blond on just knowing dirty secrets he picked up when he was fully immersed with larcenies of the highest order. He never thought it would turn out this way.

"Well duh. I never really liked her though, so that's why I didn't mind breaking into her store and taking back the earrings she stole from my dear friend, Ino."

Sasuke rubbed his throbbing temples and bit back a groan. All right, so trying to figure out the blond's way of thinking last week was only ending up with headaches. "You lot are confusing."

"But that's what makes us fun!" Naruto chuckled and ran a naughty finger down Sasuke's arm, "You should come play on our side sometime. I promise you I'll make it worth your while." he whispered the last part huskily into Sasuke's ear, enjoying how much of a shiver shot through the raven's body.

It took a long while for Sasuke to grab back his composure. "I'll pass." he pushed the blond back and watched as he moped, muttered something inaudible, and then stand up. "Where are you going?" he asked merely on reflex—though he was a little unnerved with Naruto leaving so abruptly.

"I've just got this massive craving for a White Chocolate Mocha and a Rice Krispee Dream Bar." he answered. "Do you want anything? It's my treat even though I pretty much solved the case for you. But I'm a reasonable man who has some sort of morals hidden beneath my zipper."

"You mean stashed under your belt... right?" Sasuke prayed Naruto meant it that way.

The blond simply smirked. It made Sasuke's blood run cold. "No. I meant beneath my zipper." and with that he twirled around and headed for the counter to make his order. Sasuke slammed his head against the table and cursed Orochimaru to the deepest pits of Hell.

"I do not get paid enough to do this!"

When Naruto came back he had two cups of coffee in his hand, his rice krispee stuffed in a bag in his mouth, and a bag holding Sasuke's marble cake in the hand with the raven's coffee. "You never got to tell me what you wanted so I thought: 'I'll surprise him!'." Naruto sat down and slid the hot coffee and marble cake Sasuke's way. "I hope you like vanilla in your coffee, I made sure they put in two extra shots of the stuff!"

"Oh you're too kind," Sasuke said sarcastically as he took out his marble cake and poked it with a plastic fork he had from his scone. He really did like marble cake you know... and he was a sucker for vanilla. _'Does he know these are my favorites?' _He raised his eyes to watch the blond mutter happily to himself and dig into his small meal. Sasuke wouldn't be surprised. The blond knew how to get information whenever he needed it. _'But why he would want to learn more about me eludes me...' _

Naruto looked up, a rice krispee in his mouth, and raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you hungry? That's a day of my salary going down the drain for you!"

Sasuke shook his head and took a bite of his cake. "I don't see why you'd be complaining about that. You probably make enough money to fuel a country for months... yet you work here. In a normal bookstore." this time it was Sasuke's turn to raise an eyebrow, "Tell me how that works out. What do you do with all that money?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Naruto took a sip of his mocha. "I'm saving up."

"For what?"

Naruto grinned in a way that held a lot of secrets in a simple gesture. "Secret~"

"Hn." Sasuke was never one to pry. He figured if he didn't like people digging up his crap, he wouldn't dig up theirs. But there was something nagging at his mind though to keep asking Naruto although he knew the blond was about as open as a private safe. Despite how cheery and friendly the blond was Sasuke knew he hid a lot of secrets. What they were, he couldn't fathom, but a small part of me—or maybe a bigger part than he'd like to realize—wanted to learn every single thing the blond was hiding.

Call it curiosity, or you could call it compassion.

The blond sighed, as if disappointed Sasuke didn't ask for more. "And I here I thought this could turn into some sappy, sentimental moment where we both spill our guts out to each other and finally take that finally step into a relationship. Woe is me and my failure at seducing! Woe!"

For the first time today Sasuke actually laughed—though it was small and in the form of a chuckle; but hey! A laugh was a laugh! "You're way of overreacting to everything will never not astound me."

Naruto's eyes had bugged out of his head as he leaned over the table—nearly toppling over their drinks. "Did... did you just... Did Sasuke Uchiha just _laugh_? At something _I _said? Oh my God... The world is going to end! Quickly, Sasuke, come get in my pants and fuck me!"

Sasuke's face was as red as a tomato. He punched Naruto square in the shoulder and growled. "Shut up! It's not that rare for me to laugh! And why would you even jump to something as dirty as fucking?"

"Um, because I'm always dirty-minded and I find you incredibly attractive?" Naruto made a shot in the dark, only to have it miss its mark completely.

The raven shook his head, onyx locks seemingly falling into place. "You're ridiculous."

"Pssh," Naruto leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, "tell me something I don't know, Uchiha. But seriously you should laugh more. At least fifteen times a day makes me all giddy and alive!"

"I... Laughing's just... It never comes up anymore." Sasuke finished off lamely. In his line of work you'd think he'd be looking for all the right chances to crack jokes and laugh off everything and anything. But he didn't. He hadn't had an honest to goodness laugh in _years. _Sasuke was pretty convinced he forgot how to actually laugh.

He refused to look in Naruto's eyes because he knew there would be a lot of pity shining in those orbs, but when he finally did meet his gaze... there was nothing but understanding; an understanding that was cold and came from an experience one would rather forget.

"Yeah. I've been there and done that more times than I can count." when Naruto laughed it was hollow and lacked any real joy. "You can't keep moping around forever, Uchiha. A good laugh every once in a while ain't gonna kill you."

Sasuke contemplated those words, tossed them and turned them over in his mind. Were they... dare he think it... having a moment? _'Seems like it.' _he mused. It was a start, a tiny leap, but maybe Sasuke was finally chipping away at the complexity of Naruto Uzumaki—master thief and raging kleptomaniac. The thought scared him as well as exhilarated him. Today just wasn't the day to try and dig any deeper. He certainly wasn't ready for what he could find and Naruto would only dance around the topic until Sasuke was spinning in circles.

So instead he slapped on his famous smirk and leaned forward on the table, "Well if the people around me were funnier then maybe I'd be laughing a lot more."

Naruto gasped, a light flashed in his eyes. "Dude! Uchiha! I'm fucking hilarious! All I gotta do is breathe and I've got people on the floor in stitches!" he smirked and winked, "I can totally get you laughing."

"Oh really?" Sasuke decided that even though it went against everything his body and mind were screaming at him, he'd muse Naruto and play along with his banter today. "What do you get in return? And don't say sex because you'll never get any from me."

_'Tch. Pessimistic little prick.' _Naruto smiled a little wider, "Oh I don't want anything so scandalous from you! I think your laugh is really nice, as all. Deep and... rich." he sighed and seemed to get lost in a distant memory before snapping back to the present. "So yeah! I promise to have you peeing your pants by the end of the day!"

Honestly, Sasuke was a little shocked that Naruto was trying so hard to make him laugh—of all people. They were always at odds and ends with each other and the only time they talked was when Naruto was in handcuffs strapped to a chair in the interrogation room.

Sasuke smirked. "I highly doubt that."

"Wanna make a bet on it?"

There was slight hesitation and then... "Sure. Why not?"

Naruto grinned wildly. "Great! If I win you have to hang out with me for a whole _week _and you can't complain about it, okay?"

Well that was unexpected. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow in silent questioning but Naruto either ignored him or didn't see it. _'I guess he's so certain he'll lose that he'd bet on anything.' _Deep down he didn't believe himself for a bit. "All right that seems... possible—sort of." Naruto laughed but Sasuke kept going, "And if I win you have to... tell me something."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly but then they dulled down to a slight glare. It wasn't intimidating or imposing it was simple... curious and waiting. "Tell you something?" Sasuke nodded. "Like what?"

"Anything at all. But nothing stupid like 'I like music'. I want to know something about you that not many people know."

Their eyes clashed. Blue eyes dug and gauged up onyx orbs, searching for any hint that this was simply out of curiosity for the raven and nothing more or that Sasuke was merely bored and wanted to learn something about the ever-mysterious kleptomaniac. Sasuke saw the tension slowly rise and fall on every inch of the blond's body. _'Is his past really that big of a deal?' _

And then Naruto cracked open a wide, idiotic smile and extended his hand. "You've got yourself a deal, Uchiha!"

Sasuke blinked, looked down at Naruto's hands, then back into Naruto's eyes. The darkness had left, but there were tiny shadows peaking out still. Slowly he reached out and grabbed Naruto's hand. "May the best man win."

"Oh I intend to! Now let me tell you about this one time I had a nasty run in with this guy in a panda suit running around in a machete. It was wild!"

* * *

><p>So how many of you want to guess Naruto wins this little bet, hmmmm? c;<p>

LOOK OUT FOR RESURFACED! ITS COMING YOUR WAY. DERPDERPDERP.

Kay bye guys :D! I love you all and please leave a review for the pandas and for me because I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions so far c:!


	5. Something New

A little longer compared to the rest, but no big deal c:

**Warning: This is about four days in advance. So the reason why Sasuke is a little more comfortable around Naruto is because of the fact that he's gotten used to Naruto's antics. All apart of the job ;DD. ALSO. JUST SO YOU KNOW. This IS SasuNaru if I haven't said that already. Naruto is simply a flirt and Sasuke can't handle the loooovin.**

**Disclaimer: . Spazz for we all know the obvious so don't make me say it you cruel bastards!**

Enjoy :D!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five: Something New<strong>

_One New Message!_

Flying fingers hovered in mid-air over the keyboard as the cell phone screen lit up and vibrated on his desk. His desk he just had organized and disinfected. His desk that was pretty much his second home... Yeah, why he put that much time and energy into his desk no one would know.

With a sigh, Sasuke grabbed his phone and flipped it open, reading the 239048204982 text today from no one other than Naruto.

_Are we still on for tonight c:?_

Tonight. What was tonight again? Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows as he went through his daily schedule Naruto had somehow managed to bend and twist to revolve around him and only him. The days they had spent together sort of bled into one another but then it hit him and his fingers starting to fly over the keypad.

_I suppose. Regular spot?_

_Well duh! That's our place, yo! Gaaah tonight's gonna be so much fun xDD!_

As you've all probably figured out by now, Naruto had won the bet they had a week ago. The story about the guy in the panda suit had really done the job and, as Naruto mentioned so haughtily, had Sasuke in stitches before the third sentence was even uttered. When his laughing fit was all said and done Sasuke really had no reason to complain about losing. He hadn't laughed so much in _years _and this get together would help his job along...

Sasuke barely suppressed a smile as he looked down at the screen and shot off a reply.

_Yeah. Just don't try to pull together a flash mob of random people like you did last time (;_

Yes. Yes Sasuke did add a smiley face to the end of his text if only because Naruto would always bitch about Sasuke's lack of emotion. The raven could only take so much whining from a really cute... uh... persuasive—yeah, that's right—blond for so long.

Their texting went on for another half hour with Naruto gushing about all the things they could cram into the wee hours of light and expanded hours of darkness. Sasuke would find himself smiling and chuckling at some of the ridiculous things Naruto came up with.

_Baka, there's no circuses around here in the winter._

_Shut up DX! I'll freaking make one of my own! It'll be called Naruto Land and you don't get a ticket c; _

Overall it was pretty nice to actually be social... for once. He never imagined he'd one day be texting the kleptomaniac that readily grates on his nerves on a somewhat daily basis. Sure, it was all apart of a plan Orochimaru had cooking up but Sasuke refused to dwell on that aspect any longer than he had to.

Guilt was a terrible thing to battle off.

"You're... smiling." Kakashi stood behind Sasuke astonished by the sight of his coworker showing any signs of happiness. He nearly dropped his cup.

Sasuke looked up from a text, blinked, then shot Kakashi a scowl. "Why is everyone flipping out over a smile? It's not a big deal."

"Uhh..." Kakashi took a tentative sip of his coffee, "a smile coming from you _is _a big deal. I only see you smirk and sneer—I didn't think a smile would be even functional for you."

"Glad to know I'm dysfunctional."

Kakashi took another sip and smirked. "I thought it's about time you knew."

"Go die."

"Gladly, but not today." Kakashi made a notion towards Sasuke's cell phone and failed to hold back a knowing smirk. "Already managed to snag Naruto's number, huh? You sure know how to work fast for a job. I'm surprised you don't use those skills to grab a woman—or a man; whichever one floats your boat." and then he took another sip, if only to scorch down the sheer amusement dancing in his system at the chance to poke fun at Sasuke's social behavior.

Sasuke blushed furiously and swiveled around in his chair, "Bite me, Hatake!" he snapped. "Orochimaru told me to get close, so I'm getting close. What the hell did you expect me to do? Right him letters?"

"That would be nice. Simplicity seems to have disappeared in this world as far as romance is concerned." Kakashi replied quite seriously—nah, he just wanted another rise of Sasuke.

And boy did he get a rise.

This time Sasuke was sputtering absolute nonsense, flailing his index finger around like it was a sword, with a bigger blush on his face than before.

"R-Romance?" he finally spat out.

Kakashi took another sip. Damn did he love his coffee. "Mhm. Admit it. You're secretly happy the Commish gave you this assignment. You've been waiting for the perfect moment to finally make the moves on Naruto and now's your chance. Really, I saw it coming from a mile away."

Now did Kakashi really believe the words that were coming out of his mouth? Well, half and half. He knew Sasuke well enough to conclude that the man knew nothing about the complex yearnings of the human heart. Hell, he'd never seen the man show affection towards _anything_. It was always "My job is this" and "My job that". The only times where there was even a semblance of human reaction in Sasuke was when Naruto was mentioned, around, or had committed a crime.

_'Those two...' _Kakashi knew the boys very well for different reasons. They were opposites in every sense of the word but somehow they've managed to come together like this—on somewhat friendly terms at least—in a matter of days and all because of a _job_. _'They could probably become the best of friends if given the chance—a real chance.'_

Or... maybe even something more...?

Kakashi snorted. _'Yeah right,' _and sipped his coffee as he skillfully ignored Sasuke's tirade on how this was only for his job and that the only thoughts he had for the Kleptomaniac was nothing but a genereal tolerance that some days would spike up to full-out annoyance.

Overall the older cop could see a love story blooming.

"And futhermore!" Sasuke raged, ready to jump into his next rant on why his so-called "romantic feelings" for Naruto were not even real, was cut off by Kakashi's hand a hard gaze.

"All right, all right, I get it. Denial's a funny thing to come to terms with so I'll just let you be." Yes, Kakashi couldn't resist the final jab but he _had _to stick it in there. Sasuke growled, ready to bite off a few of Kakashi's fingers only to have the man shush him... again. "Let me just say my peace and then I'll leave you be with Naruto." he set his coffee cup on a nearby desk and gave Sasuke a look that spoke how serious he was about to get. "I know that getting close to Naruto is your job and was assigned to you by Orochimaru. Now, in my opinion, I feel like this is more to sate Orochimaru's curiosity and or inflate his ego by being the first man to successfully capture Naruto rather than trying to be moral. But I won't question his intentions. I just want to make sure you don't get too... deep."

Sasuke blinked at those words and raised an eyebrow. "Too deep?" Kakashi nodded and the raven was stuck to process those words over and over again. How far was "too deep" anyways? The man possibly couldn't be talking about something as far and unreasonable as love... could he? Sasuke chased those thoughts away. Kakashi couldn't be talking about that...

"I think you know what I mean. So I'll finish this off with a warning. Naruto's got a lot of secrets, a lot of stuff he has to deal with." he narrowed his eyes into daggers that could have ripped Sasuke to shreds if looks could kill, "He doesn't need you to be added onto that pile."

Silence danced and mingled and hung in the air around them. For the first time in a while Sasuke had caught the more serious and deadly glimpse of Kakashi Hatake—the normally lax and carefree cop. It was unnerving, to say the least. And normally this side of the man never came up unless the issue was _serious_. Like, seriously serious. So serious it kills.

Sasuke nodded wordlessly, though inside his mind was nagging at him to ask just what sort of secrets and troubles Naruto was hiding behind that smile. "You won't have to worry... I... Things won't get so out of control that something like _that _happens."

Kakashi simply stared at the raven in front of him, carefully observing his very being for signs of... a lie, a discolored object, something on the verge of shattering in those normally stoic and deep eyes. He got nothing but solid truth and the belief that the relationship forming and weaving between him and Naruto would stay purely platonic. With a slight nod Kakashi picked up his coffee cup and dropped his serious act.

"Well that's good to hear. Naruto's annoying when he's got a broken heart lying inside his ribcage." he sipped his coffee, mentally gagging at how cold it was. _'Refill definitely needed.' _"Well I'm going to get another cup of coffee. You might want to answer your phone. Seven new messages and they're all _begging _to be answered." Kakashi walked off with a rather amused smirk on his face as the sounds of Sasuke cursing and complaining about how impatient the blond could get if he didn't reply in the first minute flooded his ears. "Kids," he scoffed as he made his way over to the coffee pot, "they always jump in headfirst and never realize how deep they go."

+Stolen+

Naruto had rushed around his room two hours before his meet-up with Sasuke, desperately trying to piece together articles of clothing that looked at least _somewhat _presentable! He didn't know why but he really wanted to look nice tonight and, hopefully, take the raven's breath away.

If only to make fun of the man for it later.

Ino, Kiba, and Sakura had agreed to help their best friend out for the night, both reclining comfortably on the bed with full cups of soda in their hands.

Kiba sniggered behind his hand as he watched Naruto tripped trying to get into a pair of pants. "My God this boy must be fucking gorgeous if you're acting this much like a girl."

Sakura glowered at the brunet and punched him in the arm for the comment. "I'll have you know that not every girl spazzes out before a date!"

"Right right," Kiba rubbed his abused arm and held back the urge to groan. Damn that girl had a killer left hook! "I forgot that you're the rare one percent of women who has more testosterone than estrogen. Forgive me for forgetting such an important detail of your life—Ouch! Okay, okay, I get it! Stop punching me you man beater!"

Ino shook her head at her friends antics and took a small sip of her drink. "You two just don't know when to stop acting like children. And Kiba, take a punch like a man and stop whining. We're here to help Naruto, _remember_?"

"Yeah, yeah, how could I forget?" the pain currently attaching itself to Kiba's arm was momentarily forgotten when Naruto came back to the room with a pair of black skinny jeans, a blue v-neck, and some Toms Sakura had given him for his 19th birthday. Kiba whistled appreciatively. "That fucking cop is one lucky man. If things don't work out tonight you should definitely call me," he winked, "you know how much I love you in blue."

Naruto grinned wildly at the lewd but highly appreciative compliment. He turned towards the mirror and twisted his body around so he could get a good look at his butt and then turned around fully to examine his latest attempt at an outfit. _'God why am I so nervous tonight? It's not like we haven't hung out before... and we're not really going anywhere special either.' _Now that wasn't true. The place they were heading for tonight was starting to become something extremely important for blond and raven.

They just didn't know it yet.

"Oh Kiba! You know you'll always be my number two!" he gushed and went over to give his best friend a big kiss on the cheek.

Kiba pouted and touched the cheek Naruto kissed. "Just your number two?"

"Kiba you should really stop trying to get in Naruto's pants," Sakura sighed and pulled the mutt back by his imaginary leash. "He's obviously enamored with someone else and your attempts of flirting is just pathetic."

"But they're funny," Ino added in.

"And pathetic," Sakura closed.

Double threat for the kill.

Naruto chuckled softly. "Oh come on guys! I think it's sort of cute! I mean, I can't blame him for wanting a piece of this."

Kiba had relocated to a small corner where he wallowed in the grief and shame of the earth-shattering truth. That, and Ino and Sakura had kicked him off the bed a few seconds ago and refused to let him back on. The world was so cruel. "Damn that cop to Hell! I've been going for Naruto for years and some stick-up-the-ass cop just waltzes in one day and takes him away! Life fucking sucks!"

"Well if it makes you feel better Sasuke won me over with handcuffs."

"How in the fuck is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Naruto shrugged carelessly and smirked. "I dunno. Just thought I should share. Handcuffs are apparently one of my kinks."

Ino cocked an amused eyebrow, "One of?"

"So there's more?" Kiba asked hopefully, his eyes widening at the chance to somehow regain his blond again.

Sakura promptly smacked both of them upside the head. "Guys! Calm yourselves! Kiba, you're not getting Naruto and Ino get your fat lips out of this conversation! You're only adding more fuel to the fire!"

"Fat lips?" Ino cried. "Says the girl with a forehead so big a plan could land on it!"

"What was that, Ino-Pig?"

"You heard me!"

"Guys!" Naruto separated the two girls before clothes were shred and blood was spilled. He just cleaned his carpets! "You can go at it at your own time but for now I need you to help me chose a jacket." He walked over to his closet and pulled out two jackets: one leather and one simple gray cardigan. "I was thinking leather could be a nice touch to set off the blue but then I haven't worn my cardigan in a while..."

"Leather!" was Kiba's immediate reply only because he loved the blond in leather. Yum yum.

Sakura rolled her eyes and pointed towards the cardigan, "Definitely the cardigan. It looks nice and gives you a more calmer attitude."

Ino nodded, "I agree! Besides that's the cardigan I bought for you and you look really scrumptious wearing it!"

"Scrumptious, huh?" Naruto cocked an eyebrow and stared at himself in the mirror. Despite all the claims of how gorgeous and attractive he thought he was, Naruto actually had a little insecurity about how he looked. His face was scarred up and it looked like he had whiskers on his cheeks. His hair was an unnatural golden blond and his eyes were so blue everyone thought he was American at first. Over the years he learned to like how he looked—the compliments always helped. "You think Sasuke's going to like this?"

Ino smiled widely, "Boy I'm surprised you haven't got that guy digging into your pants yet. You'll _kill _him tonight."

"For sure!" Sakura grinned. "Go get him tiger!"

"And if he rejects you my body is willing and ready!" Kiba chimed in.

God, Naruto loved his friends.

+Borrowed+

Sasuke looked at his watch for the umpteenth time tonight. "The time hasn't changed, Uchiha. You need to get a grip... and you need to stop talking to yourself. Dammit, I'm doing it again!" the raven was a huge mess of frazzled nerves and bundled of feelings. He... dare he say it... was nervous! Nervous! Freaking ready to pee his pants—okay not that serious—nervous! But why? This wasn't their first meet-up after Sasuke lost the bet, but it was certainly different from all the rest.

Tonight he actually _cared _about what he looked like.

"I feel like an idiot," Sasuke griped as he tugged on his black sweater that happened to be one of the more nicer things he owned. He had spent one whole hour fixing, re-fixing, tweaking, spiking, gelling, flattening, and then finally screwing it all and simply shaking out his hair until it was just right. And then when that catastrophe was finished the issue about what to wear came up...

Now you see, Sasuke knew he was a ladies' man. It wasn't that hard to pick up on when he got lewd looks from both men and women alike once he stepped outside his apartment. He only chose to ignore them because he found other human beings a waste of his time unless they were interesting enough to gain his attention. That's just how he was—the sexy little bastard.

So yes, when he searched and rifted through his closet he _was _planning to dress for the kill—well unconsciously anyways. Consciously he was berating himself on why it was so damn hard to pick one colored shirt to wear!

The raven sighed again, trying to erase his embarrassing moments from earlier when he felt a hyperactive and annoying presence step into his range.

He immediately stiffened. _'Here he comes...'_

"Saaaaasuuuukeeee!" Naruto screamed from halfway down the street, waving his arms around haphazardly at the raven. He nearly took out a few people's heads with the way he was waving them around.

"Shoot me." Sasuke looked up towards the heavens and begged. "Just shoot me now."

"I know you can here me, Sasuke!"

"He's doing this on purpose, isn't he?"

"If you ignore me any longer you won't be getting any sex tonight!"

Why yes, yes he was.

A visible flush stained the raven's cheeks as he gritted his teeth, shot up from his sit on fountain, and ignored every strange stare he was getting from walking pedestrians. "Fuck you, Uzumaki!" the raven seethed and stomped his way over to the madly grinning blond a few feet away.

"You would like to fuck me, wouldn't you?" Naruto purred and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck to seal the deal as well as freak out numerous people. He was feeling extremely mischievous tonight.

Sasuke tried his best to ignore the warmth that soared through his body at how close Naruto was... Really, this wasn't anything new since the past week Naruto had done nothing but hung off him wherever they went be it the movies, Naruto's workplace, the cafe. Such affection had become the unspoken rule placed in with the bet. And, to be honest, a small part of Sasuke wasn't really complaining...

Not like he'd ever admit that to another human being.

"In public? Never. I have more class than that." it was also becoming natural for Sasuke to play along with Naruto's games.

Naruto smirked and tapped Sasuke on the nose playfully, "I saw this dirty little alleyway a ways back. We could sneak in there and... you know..."

"Dig tunnels until we find the underground city beneath Tokyo?"

Big, blue eyes sparkled with delight at the hidden joke and Naruto nearly split in two from laughter. "Yes! Fucking yes! I even brought the spoons!"

The raven smirked, pleased with himself that he got Naruto to laugh. Though such a thing wasn't that hard to do. "Thank God you're prepared this time. Yesterday you made me dig with my hands."

Naruto rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Oh boohoo. Did I ruin your manicure, Sasu?"

"Well if you must know..."

"Oops. Sorry. It seems like I've stopped caring!" Naruto grinned like a mad man and hooked his arm through Sasuke's. "We're wasting valuable sunlight standing here and I have a lot of things we need t hit on my list!"

"You have a hit list today?" Well this was a first. Normally Naruto just dragged the raven around to different places on a whim, but to have a list? Were things getting... serious?

_'Oh dear Lord I hope not.'_

"Mmmhhhmmm!" Naruto pulled the somewhat compliant raven down the busy streets of Tokyo, his mindset determined to take them to their first spot. "It's this really pretty place I used to go to all the time. I haven't been by there for so long I thought: 'Hey why not bring Sasuke?'."

"Robberies keeping you busy?"

"Nope. But a lot of borrowing here and there does wear you out from time to time." Naruto giggled at his own little joke.

Sasuke shook his head. "Your mind is warped, Uzumaki."

"It's Naruto!"

"...Uzumaki," the raven smirked. About two days after the two had gotten into the swing of hanging out, Naruto had promptly told Sasuke straight up that he needed to call him 'Naruto' and not 'Uzumaki'. Of course, since Sasuke's a funny man he refused to call Naruto anything but Uzumaki simply to get a rise out of the man. Though there were a few exceptions...

Naruto whirled around, stopping them in mid-walk and jammed his finger against Sasuke's nose. "Stop _calling _me that, you fucking prick!"

"Fine then, Dobe. I'll start calling you dobe then... Dobe."

If Naruto didn't have any morals he would have killed Sasuke right there and then.

"You're freaking ridiculous," Naruto muttered and started to drag Sasuke again to the place he had in mind. "I should have let you win the damn bet."

Sasuke couldn't stop the small grin from planting itself on his face. "Oh really? Would you losing even stop you from bothering me again?"

The blond stopped in front of a huge iron arch that led into a small park Sasuke had never seen before. When their eyes crossed—blue clashing with onyx—Naruto smiled. It didn't reach his eyes. "I know when to stop if I'm not wanted, Teme. If I had lost, I'd suck it up and leave." for a minute Naruto searched the raven's eyes for any hint of emotion; confusion and a flicker of disappointment that he doubted Sasuke even noticed it flowing through him. His heart stung a little. Then a big smile crept on his face. "KIDDING! I would _never _think of leaving you alone so those girl cops can cuff you to chairs instead! Psh! I gotta make sure my target isn't snatched up before I even get a touch!"

Sasuke blinked... the words slowly getting processed through his brain... and then he blushed; terribly. "Uzumaki! You can't even _look _at me let alone touch!"

Naruto whined and latched himself onto Sasuke's waist, "Awww, come on! Not even a little? I'll stop once you're about to cu—!"

Sasuke smacked his hand against Naruto's mouth and narrowed his eyes. "You brought me here for a reason, right? Don't waste it or else I'm going home."

The blond literally deflated at Sasuke's no-nonsense tone and absentmindedly licked Sasuke's hand, enjoying the sight of the raven freaking out before he grabbed onto the man's arm and took him toward the park. On the way he pointed out odds and ends like a tree he had climbed when he was younger and nearly died from falling off.

"And that's why I hate trees!" Naruto said with a little more excitement than natural...

The park had a lot of twists and turns but when they finally arrived it was to a blank expanse of green covered in late dew. There were hills starting to form off into the distance and as the evening sun started to paint the sky with its grungy hues the landscape looked rather... mythical. Naruto pulled them over to a bench and sat down.

"This place is my favorite place in the whole wide world," he said breathlessly, not really looking at Sasuke but rather up at the sky.

"It's..." Sasuke looked around. Nature; it was everywhere. It surrounded the two and made it feel like they were the only human beings left on the earth. "Different." _'Different? What the hell? That's all I could come up with?'_

Naruto glanced at him from the corner of his eye and smirked. "Different is my favorite. I'm always attracted to different... things."

"Represents your odd personality rather well, I suppose." Sasuke teased.

"Tch! Normality is overrated. But this place... it's..." he swallowed. Was he really going to tell Sasuke a piece of his heart? _'I could,' _he mulled, knowing that Sasuke was watching him intently to finish where he left off. _'Then again, he's only tolerating me because of the bet, which I'm still surprised he actually went through with. Why would I even want to tell him in the first place?'_

Surprisingly enough Naruto couldn't say with one-hundred percent certainty whether he liked the raven or he hated him. Naturally as a hindrance to society, befriending a cop should have been the last on his to-do list but here he was having small talk with one on a bench located in his favorite place. On some degree Naruto knew he could possibly trust the raven—not with everything, just things he could tell Sasuke without caring whether the information could come back to screw him over.

Did that mean he'd ever one day view the raven on a higher level of friendship, maybe even acknowledge the emotion that made his heart speed up every time he was with the raven and fueled him to make every flirtatious jab he could make?

Ha. Probably not.

_'Well...' _their eyes locked. The words Naruto wanted to say were hanging off his lips waiting to mix with the cold, winter-bitten air. _'Maybe it could happen...'_

But right now? Of course not.

Naruto smiled easily and poked Sasuke on the cheek, "Sorry. I lost my train of thought there."

The raven scowled but he resisted the urge to slap Naruto's hand away. "No way. Finish what you were going to say."

"It wasn't that important."

"Bull."

"I'm not lying."

"Bull again."

Their eyes met. Sasuke had a knack of tearing into someone, of being able to figure them out just from a look. Naruto was a different case altogether. He'd known the man for years—well, not "known" known, but more like... he knew his name, for starters—everything he learned about the man came from folders upon folders of crime heists and whatever lunatic author decided to dig up on him. The real Naruto was never around, Sasuke assumed. He always got one side of the blond and never the full story. The whole box. One would think this made Naruto seem one dimensional and boring. Instead... it just drew Sasuke more and more into figuring out who in the world Naruto really was.

"Seriously. It's nothing... Okay well, it's not really _nothing..._"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Out with it, Dobe. The day's not getting any younger."

Naruto growled but didn't argue back. He sighed and slumped his shoulders against the park bench. "Iruka and I... this was our favorite spot."

"Iruka?" _'Boyfriend?' _For some reason the word didn't come out of Sasuke's mouth like he expected it to.

Naruto caught on and slowly shook his head. "Oh God no. I don't go for older men. Well... I have a limit," he leered over to Sasuke who scoffed him off. "Iruka's my father. Not legitimately obviously but he's the closest thing I have to one... We don't get to come here very often."

The raven nodded, deciding he wouldn't pry further than needed, though it was killing him to know. Silence filled the spaces between them, slipping in through cracks and gaps. Finally, the urge to know outweighed his normally indifferent demeanor.

"Why?" Such a simple question could unlock startling things if given the chance...

Naruto shrugged and looked up towards the sky. Purple replaced the orange and stars had come out to dot the sky. "He's been busy."

+Stolen+

The rest of the night was spent with the two walking around wherever Naruto wanted to go since they were following the blond's hit-list. A few places were the bookstore, the arcade (much against Sasuke's wishes), a late night diner, and then finally back at their meeting spot in the middle of the plaza. It was nearly 11 PM but people were still milling around in couples or clusters ready to tear into the night life.

Sasuke and Naruto stood a few inches apart of each other. The time had come for them to head off into different directions. Strangely enough... neither of them really wanted to go.

"Tonight was... fun," Sasuke smiled slightly, watching the light grow in Naruto's eyes. He decided—even though this was going against everything he said earlier about his relationship with Naruto being platonic—that he liked it when Naruto's eyes shined. They were so blue and bright, he could hardly believe the man was a kleptomaniac with a wanted list trailing behind him.

Naruto smirked and lightly tapped Sasuke's arm. "Well, duh! I'm _always _fun! Not having fun around me is a crime in thirty-seven countries—Japan included."

"Seriously. The things you say make me question your insanity."

"I promise you I'm completely sane! Unless you wanted to test that of course... We could use a chair... and some whips... and ooo you _have _to be naked for it!"

Sasuke smirked, "We'll see."

Naruto's next few words froze in his throat. _'We'll see? And... did he... did he just smirk?' _He mentally shook his head. _'Don't lose your cool, Naruto. This is just a bet. A simple hangout. He's nothing more to you than a stress relief and entertainment...'_

Riiiiiight...

Naruto grinned loosely and stood up on his tip-toes to reach Sasuke's ears, "The thought of you willingly getting naked makes me excited..."

The feeling of Naruto's warm breath hitting the raven's ear made Sasuke gulp and instinctively take a step back. "You need help, Uzumaki." Sasuke tried to play off the awkward feeling in his chest with a lopsided grin.

Naruto seemed pretty unfazed and grinned even wider. "Well if you're right hand's getting antsy..."

"Nice try, but no."

"Dammit! Now my boner will never be satisfied! You prick!" Naruto yelled.

The raven rolled his eyes, "I'll arrest you for disturbing the peace if you don't stop. So head on home."

"Yeah, yeah! I was gonna start heading back anyways!" Naruto jammed his hands in his pocket and turned around, ready to go home, when a question forced him to turn around. "Same time, same place?"

_'Same time, same place? Why would he even ask that? I'm always here...' _and then it hit him. Tomorrow would be Saturday. One whole week since the bet took place. Sasuke would no longer have to hang out with Naruto just for the blond's amusement. He was a free man, so to speak.

But something deep inside was telling him to say "Yes" because this week had been a fun one compared to many, bland others. He had actually laughed and smiled—slightly—and enjoyed himself. It had been so long since he'd done anything of the sort.

_'And it will help for the case...' _A small voice reminded him.

Blue eyes were glued onto him, waiting... expecting... Finally, Sasuke smirked and nodded. "Same time, same place."

* * *

><p>DERP DERP. THE PANDAS ARE PLEASED! SO VERY PLEASED! OH DEAR LORD BLESS THE PANDAS!<p>

Now I'm off to read Palletshipping & Gravitation. Then I shall kick up a Malevolent Shipping (AshxDarkAsh) fanclub and THEEEEEN I shall write a shitload of Gravitation and KanamexZero fics while working on SasuNaru and then finally...

Eat some cookies.

Would you like some cookies? 8D

I don't even know what happened there! But thanks for reading :D! Feedback is always very lovely. The pandas enjoy it. Till next time c;!


	6. Concluding Strings

Thank you one and all for adding this to your favorites, alerts, and taking the time to review :D! I love all the feedback I get from you all and the pandas enjoy every ounce of your love!

**Warning: This story is going to be faster paced because I've decided to make this around 10 to 12 chapters (maybe a little more than that). SO YES. THE COUNTDOWN TOWARDS THE END WILL BEGIN SOON BECAUSE THERE WILL BE DRAMA COMING UP. Also, we finally see some cute romance stuff coming up between the oblivious couple of our story ;D. Thought I'd give you all a treat.**

**Dear Lord I sound boring today.**

**My fingers are cold.**

**Disclaimer: I own my Pokemon Black game so the government can't take that away from me...**

ENJOY :D!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six: Concluding Strings<strong>

Naruto sat in a world of white, distorted beeps and disjointed wires flowing all around him. In the center of it all was his guardian, friend, and the only father he knew, Iruka. He looked so peaceful inside this chaotic world always tip-toeing around the edges of life and death. Naruto swallowed.

"Morning, Iruka. I sneaked in early and Hinata was kind enough to let me in. She's such a sweetheart." he chuckled lightly and drew tiny circles on the man's thinning, pale hand. "I really need to talk to you. Remember that guy I told you about? The really pissy one who blushes a lot and can't take a joke? Yeah. I thought you would. I probably talked about him once a day. Well we went out yesterday. Okay. Not like went out on a date went out, but we hung out. As a bet. But it was still nice. We... it was... I don't know."

His heart clenched in his chest. Feelings from last night were flowing through him and Naruto didn't know whether it was just the rush or something more. He prayed it wasn't something more. He didn't need something more. And for a cop? That was laughable! Sure Sasuke was attractive. '_And he's the cutest when he blushes...' _but boyfriend/lover material? Yeah right...

Right?

"It was really nice. We laughed a lot. And I took him to the spot. The sky was really pretty; just the way you like it. All hazy like the summer. I wanted to borrow the sky for you, then, and never give it back... Do you think that…I could...I don't know, like Sasuke? I doubt it. I really do. We're on opposite ends of the line. He has a future. I have... a hobby." he gulped at the ice forming on his skin. The word... the lies... Naruto knew he could spill the whole truth out now and Iruka wouldn't remember a single thing. But he didn't. He never did. And the reason why always baffled him. "He deserves better than me. And honestly I only see him as entertainment. So... I shouldn't be trying so hard... right?"

Right?

+Stolen+

"So everything is going as planned?"

Sasuke bit back every urge that was jumping at him to shoot the man point blank-he could, he had his gun on him and everything—and nodded tightly. Was it suddenly harder to breathe in here? Oh yeah. Guilt did that to you.

Orochimaru grinned. "Excellent," he purred and twirled a long piece of midnight hair around his ashen finger. "I can feel it. That pesky brat is finally going to get what's coming to him... and I'll be the one slamming the bars and locking the gate."

Sasuke's jaw tightened. His fists clenched. '_Breathe. Don't shoot your boss in the face. Just...breathe.' _"Na—Uzumaki," slip up, but was thankfully caught, "doesn't do major crimes anymore. He's dropped down to a common pickpocket's level now. He's none of our concern."

The slip-up didn't go unnoticed by Orochimaru, though. He smiled like a snake and leaned in, curiosity shining in his eyes. "Ah, letting your guard down around the enemy; a rookie mistake. Naruto, as you were about to say, would be a fool to drop out of the underground ring just like that, knowing how many people would want his head for leaving with probably all their secrets hidden beneath his belt. He'd pretend he wasn't working for them, sure, but every once in a while he'll pop back up and do something _big _and then drop off the Earth again like nothing ever happened."

"That's a lot of talk, sir." Sasuke nearly sneered. "Any evidence to back it up?"

Orochimaru smirked, his freakishly long tongue coming out to lick the corners of his lips. "Soon, Sasuke. Very soon..."

+Borrowed+

When Naruto finally stepped out into the December air, a brisk shiver trapped his body. "Damn," he muttered and hugged himself tightly. "The hospital was so much warmer! I should really go back..." but Sakura had already kicked him out for the day with a warning clearly saying if he didn't leave in the next few minutes, she was going to kick his _ass_.

That girl had one hell of a punch.

With more tenacity than Naruto knew he had, he pushed through the winter's cold and headed on for home. No one would be there waiting for him though, so really he didn't know why he was so desperate to head back to an empty place with too many memories...

"I wonder how Sasuke is..." absentmindedly Naruto pulled out his cell phone and checked it. Nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. His heart deflated. "He's a busy man. Why would he have the time to text me? Besides, the week's up and now he doesn't have to deal with me anymore."

He felt like such an abandoned child. Never, ever, had he cared so much whether he was tossed aside by another human being or not. Because he never became so physically attached to anyone but two people in his life that actually mattered. But Sasuke... there was something about him that made the flirt's heart race at unnatural speeds.

This couldn't be happening. He couldn't be falling for the _Uchiha _of all freaking people!

"Gaaaah!" Naruto grabbed the ends of his hair and tugged at them painfully. "I need a job, a borrow—something to get my mind off of him!"

Luck was definitely on the blond's side tonight when the phone rang. It was Kiba.

"Kiba, thank God! Do you have a job for me? Please? Dear God I hope you do!"

"_I don't think you've ever been this excited for me to call you before. Should I take this as a sign?"_

"Now is not the time for banter, Kiba! My hormones are going all wonky and I need a job. So what do you got?"

"_Well I have a guy in Hokkaido who wants you to pull a few strings…"_

"Hokkaido?" Naruto screamed out incredulously. "It is cold as my grandmother's heart _here_! Why would you ship me off to Hokkaido? This is revenge, isn't it?"

"_Whoooaa, calm yourself boy. It was just a suggestion. That's not the only job I have for you."_

"Oh thank God."

"_There's also one near the warmer islands. It'll be a three to four day adventure, though."_

Naruto raised an eyebrow and settled down near an outdoor café nearby. "Three to four days? Why so long of a journey if I'm just going to borrow some useless jewel or stupid computer chip?"

He could hear Kiba clacking away on the other side, the gears probably going haywire in his head. "_The client's really secretive this time. Not too keen on letting their motives be known, yah know? Anyway, they gave minor details about what you're going to acquire. Apparently if it's sold to the right people they'll be bagging up some major moolah."_

"Major moolah, huh?" to a man like Naruto who pretty much got a high off of money and stealing, the thought of raking up some big bucks appealed to him like a child receiving a truck load of candy for their birthday. Of course, jobs like this were always sketchy and required a lot of probing before he fully accepted. "I know I'm the best at what I do," he wasn't being cocky, just stating a fact, "but this job seems too… I don't know… sketchy?"

"_Yeah. I thought that too. But I got sort of distracted with the family of zeroes that attacked my eyes the minute I saw how much they were offering."_

"… How many zeroes?"

"_Let's just say it's enough to pay for your dad's hospital bills for the next ten years, and when he wakes up you'll have enough to buy that apartment flat you two always boasted about."_

Now such details really should have set the blond off, right? Whatever that person wanted stolen must have been top of the line, secretive, revolutionary—things Naruto banned from his list of borrows because the item could be used for the downfall of humanity. But it was really cold… and he did need the money…

It was also a great way to get his mind off a certain raven cop we all know and love.

"I'll do it!" Naruto said and began to ask more questions for details about his job. Five minutes later and he already had a plane booked for Friday, reservations at a hotel on the island, and all particulars about his newest job—all without breaking a sweat.

"_Don't get too caught up. I wouldn't want you to come back in a box. Then I'll never have my chance with you!"_

Naruto snorted, "Glad to know you only love me for my body!"

"_Well what else is there to love…?"_

"Bye, Kiba." The blond snapped his phone shut and slid it into his pocket. Well, that conversation had certainly bumped his mood up to newer levels. "It's been so long since I've gotten a job like this." He'd probably never do one of these borrows of such higher scales again for a long time, but right now tipping over the line of pure insanity and danger sounded like fun. "I wonder if I should tell Sasuke I'm heading off in two days?" Naruto chuckled himself and started to walk wherever his feet would take him, "Naah, that wouldn't be fun at all."

A part of him really wanted Sasuke to miss him while he was away...

+Stolen+

Sasuke stormed out of the station in less of a good mood then when he entered this morning—and that wasn't even much to talk about. The cold sent a bite of frost clinging to his shoulders, making him shiver and pull his coat even tighter to his body. It was the second week of December right now and the raven was certain he'd somehow been picked up from Japan and moved to Antarctica. Such a hypothesis wasn't logical, of course, but Sasuke didn't really care at the moment.

"Dammit all," he cursed and stared up at the purple streaked sky above. Barely any stars were poking their glows tonight. _'Shame. I like the stars.' _somehow his mind started to drift over to a certain blond, the thought process being triggered by the word "like". He skittered around the idea that he, Sasuke Uchiha, a cop, related to Itachi Uchiha who was by far one of the greatest detectives to ever step foot in Tokyo, could fall for a kleptomaniac with an entire filing cabinet dedicated to his name. It was ludicrous, preposterous, down right insane! Yet here he was, having his mind being invaded by the same blond he swore he couldn't tolerate.

"And now Orochimaru has this crazy plot in motion and he's not telling me a damn thing!" Orochimaru's discreetness was one of the main reasons why Sasuke had bolted from the office and left work earlier than normal. A few more reasons could be piled onto the list like how many times he secretly took peeks at his phone only to come out empty, or every time he looked at the clock the minute hand would move at a snail's pace, or even the fact that Orochimaru just pissed him off to extreme, unbearable heights were all logical reasons.

All Sasuke knew was that he needed _out _and fast. So he picked up his coat and walked. And well...

He stopped in mid-stride, eyes locking with a familiar outline only a few feet away. His breath caught in his throat. Anything logical and coherent was flushed out of his mind. All he saw was Naruto Uzumaki, the kleptomaniac he had someone gotten attached to, standing under a street lamp looking up at the sky.

In that moment, Sasuke thought Naruto was _beautiful_.

He'd just never say it out loud.

"N—!" Sasuke snapped his mouth shot before the name could come out. What was he doing trying to call out Naruto like that? The bet was over, he no longer had any ties to the man. Sure, they had made the agreement to meet up again but not so soon! Only a couple of days had passed! Sasuke wanted to turn around and head in the other direction, his feet wouldn't listen. They stayed rooted to the concrete until blue eyes slowly turned to lock and clash with startling onyx...

If Sasuke squinted, he would have seen a small smile creep onto Naruto's face.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried, waving his arms around like a child. He ran from underneath the stop light and practically tackled Sasuke to the ground.

"Uumph!" the wind was temporarily knocked out of Sasuke, though that didn't stop his body from noticing how nicely Naruto's body felt on top of his... Sasuke managed to slip on a scowl at his face directed right at the goofy grin above him. "Are you going to tackle me every damn time you see me?"

Naruto beamed even brighter, "Yup! Every time I see you my body just goes: 'Must, tackle, Sasuke!'. So I tackle you!"

Sasuke let loose a snort and shook his head, "You're such a child sometimes."

"Excuse me!" Naruto sat right up, his butt planted firmly on Sasuke's stomach, and folded his arms over his chest. "I'll have you know that I act like a child every single day. 24/7, 365 days of the year!"

"And you're proud of that," Sasuke smirked.

Naruto smirked right back, "It's how I reel in my lovers so yes," he leaned forward and placed his mouth right at Sasuke's ear, "I am _very _proud."

The raven's breath hitched and found itself lodged in-between shock and confusion. If this was happening a few months prior, Sasuke would have pushed Naruto off like the boy was a hot sack of rocks placed on his body. Instead he had to fight off urges to wrap his arms around Naruto's waist and slam their bodies together in one, final act of acceptance. He was getting better at keeping his blushes at bay, however, and poked Naruto in the side.

"Pervert. I'm going to arrest you for sexually harassing a cop."

Naruto leaned back and frowned, "And risk staying a night in that cramped jail cell? No way! I'll definitely wear the handcuffs, though. I really think I'm developing a kink for those."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and not-so-gracefully pushed the blond off his stomach.

He blatantly ignored every impulse screaming at him to put Naruto right back where he was.

"You should find yourself a boyfriend, or a girlfriend—or... whatever." the raven pulled himself off the ground and patted away the dirt off his pants. Those words... they just happened to jump out his mouth in the heat of a moment. Really, he just wanted to see and hear Naruto's reaction. A small part of him needed to know if he stood a chance... Sasuke smirked to play off his uneasiness, "Obviously you're lacking sex, and it's not like you're hideous. Why not find someone?"

Naruto looked up at the ground with a blank mask hiding his face. He studied the raven's eyes, took in his stance, was able to see the lack of a lift in Sasuke's normally haughty smirk. Naruto was no fool, oh no. He could play oblivious, but he was quite clear on what was going through Sasuke's mind. At this moment with any relationship he had, he would caught ties off here. He'd say something crude, blow it off, _lie_, and then walk out. Out of their life, out of their hair. Disappear. Only with people he knew that he could never trust fully with the burdens etched in his heart. He kept a few people close to him for a reason. And the closest one to his heart was wrapped up in wires and blanketed with white.

He gulped.

"I'm not like that," Naruto started out slowly, pulling himself up from the ground. "If I like someone, I don't want sex from them—well, not in the beginning. I only go for the ones who can compete with me, can put up with me. I'm a tough person to handle, and if they can't keep up with me I'll drop them." Naruto snorted softly, "Now I sound like a jerk, huh?"

"Not really," Sasuke replied softly. He understood. He knew Naruto could read right through him if the man really wanted to tear him down. Naruto was going easy on him. "There's nothing wrong with keeping around the people who are truly worth it."

"True..." the blond let his voice trail off and looked around. Nothing but buildings, street lamps, and fading snow surrounded them. When their eyes met again he could have sworn he saw something flicker in Sasuke's eyes, only to die back down. "Sasuke..."

"Hm?" the tone in the blond's voice made Sasuke steel himself for a question. It was the tone Naruto used whenever the moment took a serious turn.

"Do you ever feel... lonely?"

What a random question...

But the look in Naruto's eyes told Sasuke he seriously wanted to know.

_'Lonely, he asks?' _Sasuke could never be able to answer that. He never paid any attention to such an emotion because the only thing on his mind was work, work, work. Work enough to climb higher and higher until he could finally surpass his older brother's shadows. He never had time to be alone, in the sense Naruto was talking about, because he never allowed the emotion to cement long enough to take affect.

Then he remembered earlier today when all he could think about was the blond. When his heart dropped seeing he didn't get any messages from Naruto. All the way back to the night they parted after the final day of the bet, when Sasuke got home that night there was an emptiness lingering in his heart all the way into the next morning.

Was the loneliness?

The moment when the absence of one person's presence seems to rip away a huge chunk of your body and soul? Where the space around you that used to gave you so much comfort turns into nothing but a chilling reminder of what's not there?

Is that what Naruto meant?

He looked into the blond's eyes again.

Yes, that's _exactly _what he meant.

Sasuke gulped. "I..." his eyes dropped and he weakly snorted, "That's a silly question. I don't have time to be alone."

Every thing inside of him was screaming: YOU ARE ALONE!

He didn't have the courage to look into the blond's eyes again, because he knew he'd see disappointment welling into those pools.

Naruto smiled weakly. Of course Sasuke's pride would stop him from letting his guard down. Really, why would he start to expect something more when all his life he'd learn to expect the least from people?

"Of course you wouldn't be alone. You have a job and friendly co-workers. There's no reason for you to feel like that..."

Naruto had his friends, he knew that. He knew that no matter what the circumstances they'd be there for him in a matter of seconds. That... that sort of connection wasn't enough, though.

He wanted to be able to look in someone's eyes and, for _once_, see the essence of Love burning passionately in those orbs.

Was it so hard to ask?

Naruto's soft spoken words were brutal kicks to Sasuke's gut. _'Why can't I be honest? It's not so hard! Just speak up. Say it. Admit it.' _

Sasuke's lips wouldn't move.

The blond opened his mouth to say something, snapped it shut, and simply grinned like a lunatic. "Well look at that, I've made the Uchiha go speechless. I deserve _all _the rewards!"

And just like that Naruto had snapped shut whatever moment was going between them.

The snap was a direct cut at Sasuke's heart strings.

"Baka," he muttered and jammed his hands in his pockets, "of course I'd be speechless. It's not everyday I get to see what little brain you have work."

"Your insults do nothing more than inflate my ego."

"Good. Maybe your head will explode, then."

"Rude!" Naruto puffed out his cheeks and stamped his feet. "Just for that, you have to take me home tonight!"

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Your... house?" Well this was turning into a night of firsts. Naruto never mentioned his house. Always left it as an unspoken but never ventured topic, no-man's land where wise travelers avoided to cross at all costs.

Naruto scoffed, "Take back whatever thoughts are spiraling through your head. You can't _see _my house, but I'll be nice and let you drop me off near my apartment."

"Seriously, how does your brain function?"

"Just fine!" Naruto tugged at Sasuke's coat sleeve, "Now come on! I'm freezing my ass cheeks off and these streets get really dangerous at night! I mean, sure, you probably have a tazer on you and stuff but I don't wanna get my knuckles dirty in a brawl. But seeing someone get tazed would be really cool too..."

+Borrowed+

The walk back to Naruto's apartment, well the area closest to Naruto's apartment, was quiet as both men had thoughts bombarding and attacking their minds. Naruto was wondering what in the world to do with Sasuke—whether to pursue or drop—while Sasuke was thinking back to their earlier conversation, going over sentences and words he _should _have said.

_'I'm such an idiot.' _

When they were only a few minutes away from their stop point, Sasuke asked a seemingly innocent question that had been bugging him since the first day he learned about Naruto Uzumaki, kleptomaniac of the year.

"Why did you drop out of the underworld thieving market?" okay, so it really wasn't that innocent. He only wanted to sate his ever-growing curiosity.

Naruto stopped in his tracks and shot the raven a burning look, "Why do you care?"

Sasuke nearly took a step back, "It was just a question. Don't I have the right to ask?"

"You do. But I also have the right to punch you in the face and not answer. But I like your face so I'll save you from that punch."

"Oh you're so kind," Sasuke retorted sarcastically. All right, so he wasn't about to understand Naruto's whacked up motives. Another question couldn't hurt, though. "Then you have to answer this question."

"And if I refuse?"

"You can't."

"For a cop your sense of justice is twisted," Naruto huffed. He could figure out what Sasuke was going to say next, and he wasn't about to tell him anything...

Yet.

"So I've been told," Sasuke smirked. "But seriously, what do you need all this money for? You've probably earned enough to buy up half of Tokyo yet you haven't moved or done anything exponential in the past four years. What's up with that?"

"You just asked me two questions, Uchiha."

"Technically it's the same question just phrased differently." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the stubborn blond, "Now answer me."

"Stuff," Naruto replied listlessly.

"Stuff?"

"Stuff for... stuff," Naruto shrugged and started to walk again, only to have a hand grip his arm tightly.

"I want the truth, Naruto." he knew he wasn't being fair. And that when the truth about all of this, their relationship, the towering lie it was built on—everything—that an enormous amount of guilt would well up and devour him, it was already starting to build. Sasuke just needed to know. He wanted to know every little detail about the blond that no one else knew.

Because that's how you are when you like someone.

Naruto looked back at him with ice cold, blue eyes and frowned. "If you're not going to give me the truth when I ask for it, why should I give it to you?"

Sasuke dropped his hand. Ice formed around his throat. The same thing he had beat himself up earlier about had come right back to kick him where it hurt.

The rest of the walk back was silent.

+Stolen+

"Well, this is where I get off." Naruto's legs were itching to high tail it down that dreaded alleyway compressed of ugly memories and slam the door to the outside world, the intense conversations, the eye locks—everything behind.

Sasuke was silent, confused as what to do. He needed to make things right tonight. Just say what was on his mind and whatever happened after that would happen. He wasn't used to this insecurity and all these doubts. Sasuke was a man who had to be in control of every little thing to be sane.

Yet Naruto was proving he could unravel any sliver of stability Sasuke had without even trying.

The blond mentally shook his head at the raven's behavior and slipped on a smile only to calm him down, though inside he was extremely irritated. "Tonight... let's just... put it behind us. All right?" it hurt to have to say those words, but he finally decided he was going to distance himself from the raven. He didn't need inconsistency. Naruto was all up for playing out a game, but not when the other player couldn't own up to his damn feelings. Naruto was sure about what he felt.

Yes, he liked Sasuke.

No, he wasn't about to keep him if this game of who can outwit the other continued.

He turned on his heel ready to face the alleyway of dread when a hand fell on his arm again and a voice so weak carried out a sentence full of powerful words.

"I'm lonely..."

Naruto's eyes snapped forward. _'W-What...?' _he turned around to see the raven looking at the ground, a shadow crossing his face. The man's body shook from having to actually bow down and lower his pride . If Naruto wasn't so shocked, he would have laughed.

"E-Excuse me...? Say that again...?"

"Bastard," Sasuke choked out, but he didn't reject Naruto. "I... I'm lonely."

Naruto took a step closer, the distance between them shortened.

"Are you lying to me, Uchiha?"

Silence was his answer.

Naruto felt his heart skip a beat.

He stepped even closer and tipped Sasuke's chin up. The raven looked so defenseless and at a loss that Naruto couldn't help the slight cackle dancing around in his mind.

"How lonely are you?"

Their lips were close.

Their bodies tingled.

So... so close...

Sasuke gulped again and let the last of his resolve melt away under Naruto's intense gaze. He threw caution to the wind and wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist, pulling the blond flush against his body. Naruto yelped at the sudden embrace, but didn't reject it. Instead he placed his arms around Sasuke's shoulders and stood up on his tip-toes.

"How lonely are you, Sasuke?" his eyelashes touched the skin beneath his eyes, his lips were slightly puckered. Every sense and nerve in his body was screaming to kiss the raven. Kiss him. Kiss him. Kiss him.

Sasuke pressed his forehead against Naruto's and released a staggered breath. "So lonely it hurts."

He crashed their lips together.

They were just two lonely souls getting caught up in a kiss.

* * *

><p>Review please? Comments and opinions are welcomed :D Fallen and the pandas sit here anxiously for your replies...<p>

OHMYGOODNESS MY FINGERS ARE ABOUT TO FALL OF ;A;!


	7. Blank Tellings

This chapter is rather boring seeing as this leads up to chapter 8 and then 9 which will be the climax/more dramatic/angsty part of our story. Really I was just tip-toeing around characters. Well, dont' worry. This story will end soon (: WAIT. WHY IS THERE A HAPPY SMILEY AT THE END OF THAT SENTENCE. NO. NO. NOOOOO.

**Warning: ... Silly stuff.**

**Disclaimer: I banned this word from my dictionary. NOSHAME.**

Enjoy(:

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven: Blank Tellings<strong>

Naruto wasn't aware how long he'd been standing on the sidewalk with Sasuke's arms wrapped around him. A few hours maybe? Didn't feel that long, but their embracing could have went on the whole night for all Naruto cared. They had kissed numerous times after their first. Each kiss sent an electric tingle that coursed through the air and left them wanting more. It was like invisible strings that could only stretch back so far before they were snapped back together connected their mouths.

_'He's hot,' _Naruto thought when they finally pulled back. Everything about Sasuke was... hot. Not in terms of looks, but his face were covered in a blush and he could feel the man's body heat radiating and wrapping around him. Naruto was pretty sure he was blushing too. He buried his leaned forward and brushed another kiss on Sasuke's lips.

He could get used to the taste.

"This is the first time I've seen you blush," Sasuke traced the expanse of Naruto's face with his eyes. Examined every dip and curve, the whisker-scars that adorned his face and made him feral in times of anger, those startling blue eyes that attracted him from beginning-oh how he loved those eyes.

The blond looked up and scowled, "I've blushed plenty of times! You were just never worthy enough to see them."

Sasuke smirked and squeezed Naruto a little tighter, "Am I worthy enough now?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, "No. That kiss just meant nothing and now I want you gone before I bring out my shotgun and shoot out your brains."

"You sure have a funny way of showing affections towards someone," how their relationship went from passing strangers tugged along by professions to... well... Sasuke didn't know what label to slap onto what they had now. He supposed he wanted to call themselves a couple-no, scratch that, he _really _wanted to become a couple, but Naruto was a person who didn't stay tied down without a reason. Sasuke hoped he was reason enough for Naruto to stay... really stay...

_"Get close to him. Figure out everything you can. Then, when you've gained his trust-break it."_

A terrible chill ran up Sasuke's spine.

Naruto noticed the man shiver and frowned, rubbing smooth circles on Sasuke's back. It was still the middle of winter, remember? Sure, they could stay outside all night cuddling but sooner or later Hypothermia or Pneumonia would strike and they'd be done for. _'Maybe I should let him inside...'_

Such a thought had never crossed Naruto's mind before until tonight. The only people to ever enter his dump of an apartment (okay, it wasn't that bad, but Naruto thought very lowly of it) were Kiba, Kakashi and Iruka. Kakashi spent most of his time in the hospital. Iruka was... well, you know that by now. And Kiba was too busy with whatever day job he managed to snag to come over. Naruto was barely in his house as it was. There were too many memories jammed pack into the walls, it left him suffocating and clinging for escape.

"Are… you sure?" Sasuke highly doubted Naruto wanted him to come in to do the nasty. Even thinking about sex with the blond had the man's legs turning into jelly and his stomach twisting and turning into knots. _'Calm down, Uchiha! It's not like he asked you to marry him. It was just a kiss. Just. A. Kiss. Don't make it a big deal. Don't make it…'_

Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the hand—jarring the raven out of his turbulent thoughts—and started to drag him through the hell he called the alleyway leading to the back door of his apartment. "Yes, I'm positive." Naruto shot a shaky smile over his shoulder and Sasuke had to resist the urge to pounce him right on the floor.

The walk through the alley was short but Sasuke was able to catch on to a few, key things. For starters, Naruto was shaking like a leaf. He doubted the blond was aware of how much he was trembling, but Sasuke could literally see the shiver lines hanging around the blond's shoulders. Secondly, Naruto was talking—only he was talking to himself. Muttering things that sounded like reassurance and promises to the raven. This went on all the way to the back door.

"Naruto—"

"Take off your shoes before you even _look _at my apartment!" Naruto scolded and wagged his finger in Sasuke's face. Yes, he did purposefully block out Sasuke's sentence, how did you know?

Sasuke rolled his eyes but complied anyways. Whatever he wanted to ask could be voiced later. Placing his shoes against a nearby wall, Sasuke started to look around. The apartment really wasn't that bad. Sure, there were clothes randomly strung on the stair railing like paper lanterns and Sasuke was pretty sure he could smell the putrid stink of trash attacking his nostrils, but other than that the apartment seemed to be rather large.

Way too large for someone to live by himself.

_'I guess he doesn't have time to stay home a lot. After all he has two jobs going on at once and one of them is really taxing…' _Standing in the hallway, Sasuke finally noticed just how little he knew about Naruto. The thought had hit him before, sure, but not with so much force as it was now. They could be seen as total strangers from a distance if it wasn't for some connection that made Sasuke feel drawn to Naruto every time their eyes met.

He walked over to the living room where Naruto was clearing up some space on the couch. The TV was turned on to some random movie neither man knew the name of. All the while Sasuke's eyes were searching for something, _anything_that would lead him towards a link of Naruto's past.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing but paintings and random knick-knacks tacked to the wall.

Naruto, in the mean while, was trying to stop his heart from exploding with nerves. Sasuke was the first person he formally invited over to his house… And it had all be on a whim! A stupid, silly, random whim that came about all because he didn't want to let the man go tonight. Now Sasuke was here… standing in his living room… probably trying to dig up information about him and all the secrets he could never tell.

Well tonight wasn't going to be the night of sharing secrets; Naruto would make sure of that.

He crossed the distance between him and Sasuke and wrapped his arms around Sasuke's torso. "Do you know how long I've wanted to hold you like this?"

Sasuke twisted himself in Naruto's arms and rested his chin on top of his head, "I can take a guess. I'll go with… too long?"

"Forever," Naruto sighed and pressed himself closer. Okay, that was one little secret out of the bag. _'I think I've wanted to hold him like this from the start. Always…' _he leaned up on his tip-toes and pressed a feather's kiss on Sasuke's cheek. "You know what else I've wanted to do to you for a long time?"

"If it has anything to do with handcuffs…"

The blond laughed, "No! This one is normal, I promise!"

"So you have abnormal things you've wanted to do with me for a long time?"

"Trust me. I have a whole bookshelf labeled: "THINGS I WANT TO DO TO UCHIHA THAT IS PROBABLY ILLEGAL IN JAPAN". It's on the works of being published."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "You're ridiculous."

"Oh, I know!" Naruto beamed. "But in all seriousness, I've wanted to kiss you for a really long time, too."

"Well… you have…"

"And I never want to stop kissing you." Naruto added in with a whisper.

Sasuke sighed slightly and leaned forward, his forehead touching Naruto's. "Then what's stopping you?"

Their lips touched in a silent answer:

_Nothing. Nothing at all._

+Stolen+

Naruto had convinced Sasuke to stay the night and brought the raven to his room. _'How long has it been since I've slept in here…?'_

Months. Many, many months.

Sasuke passed by a door two doors down from Naruto's and raised an eyebrow. There was a long, blue mark trailing down the door. "What's up with this door? Is it an extra guest room or what?"

Naruto gulped silently. "Uh… it's nothing. Just useless junk is stuffed inside. Come on. I just put up this new pack of glow in the dark stars I got yesterday!"

Sasuke snorted, "You're such a child sometimes." Naruto was the only man his age the raven could see running up and down aisles looking for a pack of glow in the dark stars.

"Please, glow in the dark stickers are meant for any age! Just look," he pushed open the door leading to his room and lead Sasuke inside, pointing up at the ceiling. "See? They're pretty legit, huh?"

The stars were pasted haphazardly on the ceiling as if you were really looking up into the night sky. Dark blue splattered the walls and ceiling, becoming the endless sky for Naruto's stars. _'They suit him.' _

Naruto smiled softly as he sat down on the bed, tilted his head back, and just gazed. When was the last time he actually came upstairs to sit in his room? _'Months, probably—maybe even a year. Okay, probably not a year but long enough to be called a while.' _He never found much use for his room anymore. The couch downstairs was comfy enough for him, and _far _away from the bedroom door two doors down. He didn't need that constant reminder every time he tried going to sleep.

Sasuke joined him on the bed shortly after at the two sort of sat there in their own thoughts covered in silence. The silence was highly welcomed since neither man knew what to do from here. As mentioned before Naruto had acted everything out on whim. No plans, no words thought up beforehand—nothing. _'I should probably tell him about my new job… That I'll be gone for a while and see what his reaction is.' _

"Oi," Naruto casually linked his fingers with Sasuke's, "I have something to tell you."

The raven raised an eyebrow, "Deep dark secret you've been ready to throw at me?" _'Even though I have my own secrets that need to be shared too.' _

"Nope! Not tonight, sorry!" Naruto leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Sasuke's cheek as compensation. "Actually, Kiba called me earlier today."

"Kiba?"

"Best friend, you could say."

"Uh huh… What about him?"

"Well, like I said, he called me today… with a job."

Things seemed to click into place after that. "Kiba's the guy you get all your jobs from?" when Naruto simply shrugged, Sasuke realized that he had just gotten a tip on who supplied Naruto with his information and heists. And with that thought in his mind, another stab of guilt itched at his heart and made his stomach clench.

"I'll be gone in a few days," Naruto continued, oblivious to the inner war Sasuke was currently battling inside. "Nothing too long. Three, four days, so you better not cheat on me while I'm away!" the blond jabbed his finger in Sasuke's face and grinned goofily. Honestly, he couldn't say he'd be surprised if Sasuke left him after this or not. Everything that was going on between them could all be on the spur of the moment. Once he came back from his little trip, Sasuke would have long forgotten him.

And then he'd be alone.

He'd have expected it, of course, but the loneliness would still weigh heavily on his shoulders.

The guilt that was crashing and warring inside of Sasuke subsided slightly as he watched Naruto's eyes. They were defying every ounce of emotion Naruto tried to come off through his face. He saw the vulnerability, the uncertainty and it spurred him to wrap his arms around Naruto's waist and pull the blond on his lap.

'_This is so wrong,' _he shouldn't be feeling the chilling trail of guilt clawing up and down his back holding Naruto in his arms. But Orochimaru's words were the constant reminder of why he pursued this relationship in the first place: To get the job done. He had blindly followed his feelings and now he was stuck in this… this… well, it wasn't really a mess but if the wrong words were said at the wrong time, things could very well end up sticky. If there was anything Sasuke learned tonight was that he never wanted to hurt Naruto, or see any signs of pain glow in those beautiful, blue orbs he loved so much. He couldn't handle that, knowing he was the trigger to the shot—the pain, the hurt…

"Naruto," he whispered, burying his face into the crook of Naruto's neck. The three or four days Naruto would be gone were going to be long ones. Horrendous and probably filled with the aching gape of distance between you and the one you… adore. Yes, right, adore. That's what he felt. It wasn't love, yet. It was adoration, overwhelming affection. _Want_. He _wanted _Naruto in every aspect of the word. "You shouldn't worry over pointless things that could never happen in the first place."

The blond snorted softly and adjusted himself in Sasuke's lap so he was more comfortable. "I have to worry myself, though! You're so… you're so… freaking gorgeous anyone could come in and snatch you up underneath my nose and I'd be powerless!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and gently squeezed Naruto's sides, smirking at the loud yelp he got in return. "Honestly, you act as if we were dating or something. Last time I checked, you never marked a claim on me. And why should you if you think I'd leave you that easily."

Naruto blinked… processing the words Sasuke just threw at him over and over again until a hopeful smile suddenly worked its way onto his face. "Uchiha, are you implying something?"

"Perhaps."

"Well, if I'm thinking what you're thinking," Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and pressed their bodies together, "you want me to ask you out… right?"

Strong arms came to wrap themselves around Naruto's lithe waist. Sasuke's fingers dipped underneath the blond's shirt and started to touch and tease the skin underneath. "It would be nice, yes." He breathed out with a smirk still hanging off his face.

"But I don't wanna ask first!"

"Then you can't mark a claim. Sorry, I think I'll go find someone—" he was cut off by Naruto's lips placed on top of his in a quick and urgent kiss. A little tongue slipped in and the two duked it out for a few seconds before Naruto pulled out with a flush on his cheeks and a pout painted on his lips.

"No way, Sasuke! Fine! I'll ask! Will you go out with me? And don't you dare say no!"

Seconds spanned for the longest while until finally…

Sasuke smiled, it was a tiny one though, and brought Naruto in for another kiss. "How could I say no to a confession like that?" he whispered against Naruto's lips before pulling him back in again.

+Borrowed+

Orochimaru sat in his reclining leather chair, twirling his pencil idly in his hands. He had a stack of files haphazardly strewn across his chest and an empty bottle of whisky threatening to tip over. The man felt rather giddy at the moment, rather than a total wreck from what his environment implied. He had one folder opened in particular that planned out bullet-point by bullet point how the blond kleptomaniac would finally be captured—for good.

"Oh, Uzumaki," Orochimaru hummed and picked up the paper that spoke of a brilliant future for the man, "you've danced around me for far too long. I'll finally have you locked up and thrown away for the rest of your life…"

It was time for another shot of whisky.


	8. Too Soon

OHMYGOODNESS! Guys, thank you so much for the reviews :D! I don't know what special thing happened in chapter seven that made you guys all want to rape the "Review" button but thanks so much :D It means a lot! I have chapter nine finished already, but I won't be posting that until I finish this story. Then you'll be getting updates twice a week hopefully c;

**Warning: Just strap on a helmet and get in there...**

**Disclaimer: We all know the truth by now...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight: Too Soon<strong>

"Everything packed, man?"

Naruto zipped up his final suitcase and nodded with finality, "Yup! About time, too. I thought I'd never get my shoes to fit in here..."

Kiba rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Hey, I _told _you to pack light this time."

"And I did!" Naruto whined.

"Light doesn't mean how many of your shoes can you squeeze in to fit one whole suitcase."

"It does in my world."

"You're so fucked up," Kiba muttered, shaking his head at how messed up his best friend's logic could be sometimes. Yet he still loved the man no matter how psycho he was... How cute.

Naruto beamed proudly at Kiba's conclusion and threw him a gracious wink, "Well, duh! No normal human being would accept a job of this magnitude. Now come on," he grabbed his two suitcases (one for his clothes, the other for his shoes) and started for the door, "I don't want to be late for our flight just because you were lollygagging around!"

As was the normality between the two, Naruto left Kiba in a confused, dazed tizzy. Mostly because of the word lollygagging. "Who in the world says lollygagging anymore? Seriously, Uzumaki?"

+Borrowed+

A few hours later and the two men were snuggled in adjacent seats in the middle section of the airplane. Kiba had his laptop out and was running over the final details of their latest borrowing.

"From the looks of this blueprints the compound is heavily guarded," Naruto whispered, pointing out the areas Kiba and he had marked out before as potential spots for guards. So far they had the east section, west, southeast, southwest, and north entrances dotted. That didn't necessarily mean the areas not mentioned were cleared. Apparently, security switched on an unknown timetable and the amount of guards positioned where couldn't be determined.

That just made it all the more fun to crack the pattern.

Kiba double-clicked on a file that showed all the details of their mission. "The client specifically says to watch out for the northeast around 11 PM tomorrow night. During that time no one is watching the entrance, but there's a skylight located above where you'd be entering so you really have two options of how to break in."

"Ooo, options," Naruto grinned slyly. "Gotta love them. How about the key code. Brought the mini-computer along this time?"

"What do you take me for? An amateur? Just because I forgot it _once_," the brunette muttered something unintelligible under his breath as he searched through his carry-on. A few seconds later and he had a little computer about the size of an iPod Touch in the palm of his hand. "See? I deserve the highest of praises... and a blow job," he threw in with a wink.

"How about we just go with the praises?" Naruto grinned and grabbed the computer from Kiba, slipping the object into the pocket of his backpack. "Besides, my little Sasu wouldn't be so happy if I cheated on him so early in the game. These lips are his," he said, running his thumb across his lower lip.

"Fucking tease," Kiba growled and leaned back on his seat. "What do you even see in that guy in the first place? Honestly, a cop and a thief getting together must mean the apocalypse is slowly approaching."

"Glad to see your faith in us!" the blond whined and punched his friend on the shoulder. "Don't you think such a thought already hit me? Obviously our relationship is uberly taboo but... when I'm with Sasuke, I forget about everything. Like, the guilt and the shame of my job... Iruka... all the pain just slips away when I'm in his arms." a small, goofy grin stained his lips as warmth pooled around the areas Sasuke held him just a few days before he left.

_'I should probably call him once our flight lands,' _he had kept the more intricate and sticky parts about his trip on the DL from Sasuke. Not because he didn't trust him, but because he had to respect the client's decision on remaining secretive about the job. Honestly, on a normal day and job he wouldn't care whether he told Sasuke or not. Either way the cop would find out, have him handcuffed, send him to the interrogation room and well...

Naruto let his overactive, perverted man run wild after that.

For the second half of the flight the two men were pretty silent, each trapped in their own thoughts. Naruto was the first to break it.

"You know, I'm still iffy on this whole job thing."

Kiba cocked an eyebrow, "Oh. You've finally grown a conscience, man?" all the amusement he could handle was slithering over his words.

Naruto pouted, "No... Maybe... I don't know. The more I think about the job, the more unsettling it makes me, you know? Like, this computer chip or whatever the hell I have to steal is _big_. So big it's the only thing living on the compound. And look where the compound is located! On some far off island miles away from the city; so this thing has to be like... government stuff on a huge scale."

"And? You're saying stuff I've already thought about, Naruto."

"All I'm saying is that I don't like to be fooled. There's a reason why I never pick up these sort of jobs." he gulped as the memories of his last, major heist drove and plowed into his mind. A cold shiver was left in their wake.

Sympathy washed through Kiba, his thoughts and memories coinciding with Naruto's. How could he forget what happened two years ago? When he had first gotten the email pertaining the job, he was ready to throw it into the trash. Then he read into it, only for curiosity's sake. The reward was too good to pass up, and Naruto hadn't been picking up any jobs lately. Kiba knew the hospital bill clumped together with other bills Naruto had to maintain by himself would be piling up soon by the end of the month, so that was the only reason why he even entertained the idea.

Kiba nodded slowly, deciding that silent comfort was all Naruto needed right now. He placed his hand over top of Naruto's and smiled. "You've got nothing to worry about. With my on your side I'll get you in and out of there without even getting scratched!"

Naruto smiled back, although it was shaky and lacked some confidence. "I'm counting on you. If you let me down I'm skinning your ass and selling it to the Triad."

"Oooo, kinky."

+Stolen+

"Sasuke... you've got a little something..."

Sasuke raised his head up from the keyboard with the vigor of a sloth, "What?" he barked out not-so-happily. Kakashi had walked in and interrupted his self-loathing time. No one interrupted his self-loathing time! Even though he didn't have a valid reason to loath...

Kakashi smirked, barely containing his giggles at the sight of Sasuke with the keyboard letters imprinted on his skin. _'Oh, I am such a sadist.' _"Oh, it's nothing. I happened to be walking by while you were slacking off and, like the good co-worker I am, decided to set you back on the right path."

"You're too kind," Sasuke drawled sarcastically and sighed dejectedly.

"Something bothering you today?"

"Not really..." well, that was a lie. Naruto had left him two days ago for his job that he was really vague about. Granted, it wasn't his place to pry but what bothered him more was that he'd be without his blond for four days! Four, long days without that constant smile and sunshine or that perfect body he had grown addicted to over the past few days. Naruto promised to call him every chance he got but Sasuke could still feel the overwhelming pit of loneliness creeping up behind him to swallow him whole.

And he would go down without even giving a fight.

Kakashi simply hummed and took a small sip of his coffee. He knew why Naruto was gone, of course. The blond had called him before he left stating he would someone to watch over Iruka while he was gone. Kakashi normally went to visit Iruka anyways, and it wasn't like the man was getting up to _go _anywhere soon.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you'll live through whatever lovesick depression you've dug yourself into," the man mused happily, pleased to see the raven's feathers get all bristled.

Sasuke nearly jumped out of his skin as he whirled around in his chair to confront the man. "I am _not _lovesick! Nor am I depressed!"

"Mhhhhmmm..."

"I'm not!"

A small vibration came out of nowhere and Sasuke instantly sat up, alert and ready for action.

"Must be Naruto. You might want to get that," Kakashi smiled like a piranha, taking another sip of his coffee. Man did he love this stuff; and annoying the living Hell out of Sasuke. It was like his job away from his... job.

Sasuke went to check his phone only to come out empty, depressed, and annoyed. He shot the cackling man a glare that would have cut down a normal person in size.

Kakashi's grin merely widened. "Oops. That was my phone. My bad," he pulled out his cell phone and tapped a few buttons before sliding it back in his pocket. "Feels nice to be contacted."

"Burn."

"Is that all I'm getting from you today? Pity."

"Burn in _Hell_!" Sasuke spat. Kakashi was seriously pushing some major buttons today. What in the world had Sasuke done in the past... twenty minutes to deserve such torment? The grown man nearly groaned and slammed his against his keyboard. "Seriously... what did you want with me?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Nothing really. I was just bored."

_'Shoot me. Fucking someone come in here and shoot me now.' _

"Kidding. The Commish wants you in his office pronto. Said he had some big news for you... or something."

This time, Sasuke groaned—loud and pitiful. "Today is just not my day..."

"I don't know about that," Kakashi smiled behind his raised mug, "my day's going just fine."

+Borrowed+

Sasuke opened the door a mere crack, because honestly he didn't want to open it fully to see the horrifying face of his boss... No matter how rude that may of seemed. He really didn't like Orochimaru, for numerous reasons that Sasuke could probably spend a whole month going through. But today his hatred for the man intensified ten-fold. He knew he was planning something; something big. What it was, Sasuke had no clue. All he knew was that once the plan was finally told...

He wasn't going to like it.

Orochimaru was busy signing documents here and filing stuff here when Sasuke finally set a foot in the door. "Ah, Sasuke-kun. How I love to see your scowling face in the afternoon."

_'Bite me,' _Sasuke thought. "Sexual harassment is a felony, sir."

"Only if I'm caught, yes," Orochimaru smirked. "But I have not touched you in anyway way, shape, or form... yet," he finished with a lick of his lips.

A small part of Sasuke died.

"Five seconds, sir, or I'm walking out."

"Fine. Fine. Come take a seat. We have a lot to discuss and not a lot of time to do it."

Sasuke did as he was told and took a seat in his customary chair. Orochimaru pulled out a rather large file and slid it across the desk over to Sasuke. The raven picked it up and leafed through its contents.

"This is...?"

"I'm assuming you've heard that Uzumaki has gone away on a business trip... correct?" the raven stiffened, not liking where this was heading at all... but he nodded nonetheless. "His job was simple: Steal a very expensive, very _influential_, computer chip from this compound located on one of the western islands. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, sources confirmed that the compound has extremely tight security but there's a flaw in their system. Tomorrow night, no one will be guarding the northeast entrance."

During this whole monologue Sasuke felt his heart stop numerous times. This report... it was too detailed; too informed. Orochimaru knew more than was necessary—than what someone who should have no business in the affair should know. It all clicked then. In a sickening sort of way that made Sasuke's stomach drop and his throat all raw...

"You... This is a set up." wide, onyx eyes met cruel, golden ones as a long pink tongue came out to lick Orochimaru's lips.

"Why yes. I would suppose it is."

Sasuke couldn't handle this. No... This couldn't be a set up. Naruto was in danger and he had let him slip away _knowing _Orochimaru was planning something but never coming up to question! How could he do this? He slammed down the folder on Orochimaru's desk and bolted straight up.

"You're... despicable!" he spat out. "Naruto hasn't done anything wrong in _months _and yet you're so apt on capturing him in such a pathetic way?"

Orochimaru showed complete indifference to Sasuke's outburst and calmly filed away his folders. "It would seem you've taken my words a little _too _close to heart, Sasuke-kun. I told you to get close to the man, not develop some... wish-washy relationship."

"What I have with Naruto is _not_ wish-washy! He is a human being!"

"Yes, a human being with a ridiculous track record tagging along for the ride." the older man sighed, clucking his tongue as he rested his chin in the palm of his hand. "Truly, I expected much more professionalism from you. Itachi would have _never _let his feelings get in the way of a job."

That was a low blow; and the final straw for Sasuke. Pure fury burned in his eyes as he walked over to the door (not without kicking his chair over) and stormed out. He was in such a furious tizzy he didn't even notice Kakashi was standing by the door until he had to be grabbed by the arm and pulled aside.

"What's the rush? Did the Commish go too far this time?"

"Too far... is an understatement," he said in-between breaths. It helped to have Kakashi's hand on his arm for support for he was sure he would have kept running until he was in the middle of the streets and out of the station.

"What happened?"

Sasuke gulped. "It's... Naruto. He's in trouble. Orochimaru has this plan to catch him in the act, and Naruto's falling right into his trap!" he slammed his fist against a wall, rattling the paintings and plaques. "I... I should have known! I could have stopped him from going."

"No," Kakashi interrupted softly, "you wouldn't have." the look Sasuke sent him was wild, fierce, and if Kakashi hadn't opened his mouth to speak a second time Sasuke would have lunged. "You knew from the beginning that pursuing a relationship with Naruto in this context would spell trouble. You're not an idiot. You knew Orochimaru was planning something. I will admit, I'm against Orochimaru's methods as much as you are but you are not in any position to complain."

Man, did the truth hurt. It doused out the fire lit up by Sasuke's irrationality and settled in with the guilt that had been forming and bubbling in his gut for weeks. Yes, he knew all along that Orochimaru's proposition would come up to bit him in the rear. He just never thought it would come _this _soon; when they were finally starting to trust one another. Sasuke had completely defiled Naruto's trust, and for what? A stupid, silly job?

_'I'm such an idiot...' _in that moment, he realized his feelings for Naruto went beyond anything some false pretenses could come up with. He loved Naruto. He loved the man with all his heart, body, and soul. And not that man was going to walk in on his demise and it was all Sasuke's fault...

"Now, now," Kakashi bent down to Sasuke's level and brushed back a few of his bangs, "I'm not saying you can't _do _anything, I'm only telling you to not beat yourself up so badly. Naruto won't have anything to hit once he's done with you."

Sasuke could barely even muster up a glare, Kakashi's words were just too true. "You suck at cheering people up."

"So I've been told. But I'm also a whiz at getting people motivated. I know the island where Naruto's next heist is being held." Sasuke's ear perked up like a wild dog at this. "Ah, but before you go speeding out of here you need to know two things."

"All right..." Sasuke replied hesitantly, "Shoot."

"One, I'm coming with you."

Eh, he saw that coming more or less so he simply nodded back in response.

"And the second thing?"

Kakashi smirked, "Naruto has one killer left hook."

+Stolen: The Next Night+

Naruto decided if he was ever going to model, he'd _kill _in all black—just saying. He worked the color very well, if Kiba's cat calls and wolf whistles were any indications. Pure adrenaline was coursing through his veins at the thought of tonight's borrow. It would be his greatest one in months if all went well, and they would. Though somewhere in the back of his mind was telling him to be careful and watch out. He was still highly skeptical of the job, but hey? With all those zeroes calling out his name... how could he back out now?

"All right, so there's a speed boat waiting for you at the dock that will take you to where the compound is," Kiba spoke as he typed in commands on his computer. He was already working on hacking the compound's system and pulling up a more, intricate map of the place.

Naruto nodded and slid on his mask. "Haven't drove one of those in a while. This'll be fun." he rotated his shoulder blades and gave him self a good stretch to work out his nerves. When he was all said and done, Kiba was staring at him with solemn eyes.

"Oi..."

"Hm?"

"Come back, okay?"

Naruto blinked... and then he broke out into a smile and gave Kiba a thumbs up. "I always do."

And with that, Naruto had raced out the door leaving behind a not-to-certain Kiba in his place.

* * *

><p>Ehhh, I wasn't so happy with this chapter. I think chapter nine and ten I like more o.o. Oh well, do review again :D! I'll reply to them all next time, I promise :D<p>

PEACE OUT AND PANDA SCOUTS.

^YEAAAAH, IDK.

Adios c:

I'm not even Spanish...


	9. Found Out

As always, thanks for your reviews and alerts and adding this story to your favs :D. Only two or three more chapters and this story is finished. I told you I wanted to end this quickly (; No worries. Chapter 10 is all done and all I need to do is work on Chapter 11 and the conclusion will be... concluding? My God why aren't I funny anymore T^T SOMANYEMOTIONS AT MEHLOSS.

**Warning: OHMYGOD. OHMYLORDHAVEBEAUTIFULMERCY. Beware.**

**Disclaimer: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. I'm half American, the other half is Jamaican. Which means I do not have to disclaim a damn THING! (Fallen, shut up. Being an idiot won't change anything ;A;).**

****ENJOY :D!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine: Found Out<strong>

Shrouded by the shadows of the night, the elite borrower found shelter behind a tower of crates. Dressed in nothing but black and equipped with the latest technology needed for the job, Naruto was ready to hit them; hard. Discretely, he pulled out a tiny, prepaid, non-traceable cell phone and pressed one.

"_Sup?" _Kiba asked from the other end.

Naruto peeked out slightly from behind a crate and scanned the area. Deserted, mostly, with only one guard standing at his designated post. "One guard's out tonight at the east gate, but he should be easy to maneuver around." A swift kick to the temple would knock him out for the next hour and by the time he'd come around, Naruto would be long gone.

"_All right," _the brunet was typing commands madly on his keyboard, working on numerous screens at once. A screen for the layout, a screen for the guarding schedule, a screen for Pac Sun to order his jeans… He was one busy hacker. _"Now remember what we talked about before you left. Head in through the east entrance instead of the northeast because it'll seem less suspicious. When that's over take the hallway down all the way until you come to an intersection. You'll be taking the right hallway all the way to where our little baby will be hiding."_

"And then I use my awesome ninja skills to take out anyone who's guarding the prize, grab it, and run. This still sounds extremely shady but I already accepted the job so I can't go back on my word now. I'll link you up to their mainframe when I get to the chip."

"_Sounds good. Be safe, dude. I don't want to have to deal with that freaking cop if you're as dead as road kill."_

Naruto snorted. Oh how he loved Kiba's sentimental ways. "Don't worry about me! Since when have I ever gotten caught on the job, huh?"

"_Do you really want me to answer that?"_

"Fuck off, love." Naruto smiled cheerfully and slammed his cell phone shut. Well that was a fun chat, now it was time to get to work. Adjusting his black mask, Naruto did one last scan of the area before running into the shadows. He ducked behind another tower of crates that were closer to the sole guard at the door. The man couldn't have been anything older than thirty yet he looked aged beyond his years.

'_Probably from stress,' _the blond mused. He felt a little pitiful, of course, since in a few more seconds he'd be kicking the man right in the skull. The guilt washed away rather quickly when the thought of ending the job, getting the money, and running home to Sasuke's arms came into mind. _'Let's get this over with,' _quick as lightening Naruto took down the guard and stealthily placed him off to the side.

"Sleep tight," he whispered into the man's ear before darting off for the door. There was a keypad on the side—Naruto's only way of getting inside. But for this master kleptomaniac getting the code would be an cinch. After all, Kiba had done quick work hours before to crack the password. "I love having a genius for a best friend," Naruto hummed as he punched in the four digits and watched with amusement as the door softly clicked open.

"What a polite door…" Naruto dashed inside and started the mapped out journey to his beloved little prize. He had to admit that sneaking into such a high security building undetected did a lot to bring up memories of the past, when he got such a rush and a thrill for being able to outsmart the most brilliant minds and systems in the world. It was a surge of adrenaline that would never really leave him.

A feeling so addictive it nearly cost him his life a few times—and other's lives as well.

"This must be it," he guessed as he brushed his palm against the steel door. It was chilling to the touch. Naruto pulled out his computer next along with a USB cable. He plugged it into a nearby keypad after ripping out a few wires here and there and then plugged in the cable. "All righty, Kiba," he whispered as he punched in commands, "let's see if you've still got what it takes," with a smirk he pressed the ENTER button.

Not even a minute later and the door was opened, and Naruto was grinning like an idiot. "My God, I really do love having a psychotic genius as a best friend!" His loud proclamation gained the attention of all the guards who were inside. They all stand, mouths agape, at the boy who was casually leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey guys!" Naruto waved his hands wildly, "I heard there was a sleepover going on and I wasn't invited! That was rude of you all. I even brought you all gifts…" he quickly grabbed twenty or so sleeping capsules and chucked them into the room. The guards were too stunned to even attempt to move and when the balls broke, noxious fumes entered the room and made the guards drop like flies.

Naruto stood there with a cat-like grin on his face as he slipped on a gas mask over his face and walked inside, making sure not to step on any of the guards. "See? This is what happens when you exclude people," he clucked his tongue in mock disappointment as he crossed the distance over to where the computer chip was stored. Taking out his computer again, Naruto plugged in the USB and hit a few commands. The glass container surrounding the box where the chip was supposed to be in slowly lowered down until the box stood, waiting to be captured.

The blond wiggled his fingers in anticipation, "I can just _taste _all those zeroes right now!" he cheered as his fingers connected with the lock and lifted it up…

Only to find it empty.

Not only that, but a gun was placed right as his temple.

"Ignorant little boy," the voice behind him sneered, "I knew someone as greedy as you couldn't keep his hand off a reward like this—no matter how much was at stake."

Naruto's heart nearly froze in its cage. So this really was a set up after all… _'Stay calm, Uzumaki. You've been held at gunpoint numerous times. This isn't any different.' _He swallowed passed his fear and looked at the man from the corner of his eye. All he could see was a fiery mass of red and half of a smirk.

"You know me… if it's for a good cause, I'm always first to step in."

The man behind him snorted. "Good cause? Are you even allowed to say that?" he sneered as he pushed the gun further into Naruto's temple.

Naruto held back the urge to hiss. "Hey, I have morals. They're just not as simple as yours may be. Speaking of simple, do you really have to be so dramatic? Honestly, I've been held at gunpoint so many times it's not even scary."

"You've got a lot of talk for someone who's standing right at death's door."

"Me and Death don't really get along too well. You might say I've cheated him far too many times…"

The redhead pushed his gun further into Naruto's temple. This conversation was dragging out longer than he needed it to be. Naruto was crafty, smart, and quick-witted. If he made this go on any longer the blond would find a way to escape his grasp and make a run for it. "Maybe I should do him a favor then,"

He reeled his gun backwards and slammed it hard against the back of Naruto's head. Naruto saw stars colliding with the blackness that quickly took over as he fell to the ground. The redhead stood over him with a small smirk on his face. "Well, that was easy."

+Borrowed+

The next day and Sasuke had his bags packed, ready to take the next flight out of Tokyo to reach Naruto. He had bags over bags growing under his eyes. Last night had been terrible. Sleep eluded him numerous times. The amount of hours he simply stared at his blank ceiling seemed endless.

Guilt was a terrible enemy to battle alone.

"I'm going to make things right. I'll… apologize." He swallowed and stared at himself in the mirror. The guilt had thoroughly eaten him out alive until he was nothing but mere skin and bones in his mind. How in the world could he have agreed to something like this in the first place? Where were his morals? Naruto didn't deserve to be lied to like this… No, surely his feelings for Naruto weren't a lie. In the short time they spent together Naruto had wormed his way quicker into Sasuke's heart than any human being could have dreamed possible. Naruto was the first, and probably the last, person Sasuke could be completely defenseless around if given the chance.

And now… everything he worked for—all because of his damn pride—was going to be shattered when Naruto finds out…

"_You're going to deserve everything you get, Uchiha. But you can also make things right."_ Kakashi words rang loudly in his eyes. He knew of the consequences. He knew exactly what was going to happen if Orochimaru's plan went thorugh. But he had the power to stop it, and he would.

Just then, his cell phone rang.

"Yo," he answered curtly.

"_Sasuke, it's Kakashi."_

Sasuke's heart raced a little. "What's up?"

There was silence on the other end of the line before Kakashi finally came back. His voice was devoid of all emotion.

"_Naruto just came into the station. Orochimaru caught him—he won."_

Sasuke had dropped the phone after the first sentence and raced outside towards his car. He slid inside and pulled out his keys, jamming them into the ignition and recklessly pulling out of his garage into the open streets of Tokyo.

The only thing running around his stressed-induced mind was no one other than that pesky, blond kleptomaniac himself… Naruto Uzumaki.

+Borrowed+

"How hard did you hit the boy? I did tell you to bring him in at all costs but I do not want to deal with a concussion victim."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't hit him _too _hard… Well, maybe…"

'_Ah fuck, my head is killing me. Ugh… why does it hurt so much?' _Blurry, blue eyes slowly cracked upon to a world of blinding, white light. For a moment, Naruto thought he had partied too hard after a rousing celebration with Kiba only to have his memories of last night came bombarding his mind. "Oh no…"

"Lookie, the brat's awake." The redhead from last night was perched against a wall with a cigarette stub hanging off his curled lips. "Did you have a nice dream, kid?"

"More like a nightmare," Naruto muttered. "The only fun part of it was when I snapped your head in half…"

"You better watch what you say or I'll—" the man was stopped by Orochimaru's hand on his chest. Those golden eyes screamed for order and patience and the man could only abide and step down.

Smirking, Orochimaru trailed his eyes over to Naruto who looked rather calm given his situation. _'As expected from a professional, I suppose.' _He took quick, careful steps over to the table Naruto was forced to sit behind. The elation he was feeling right now was through the roof. Naruto Uzumaki, famous kleptomaniac, was captured! Captured! And right in his office too. Oh, he could see the department making his golden plaque of achievement already.

"Naruto Uzumaki; it's a pleasure to be in your presence."

Naruto simply grinned, "The pleasure's all mine. Though I must say for a guest you're treating me pretty horribly. Handcuffs, really? Are you afraid I'm going to pickpocket you, or something?"

"Kyuubi was correct. Your mouth is filled to the brim with quick-witted retorts."

"Told you!" Kyuubi cried from his little corner. "The little shit was getting on my last nerves last night. Now you know why I clubbed him."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed from his seat. "I remember that now! You fucking asshole, hitting me over the head like that!" he narrowed his eyes and stared Orochimaru down, "If you think I'm going to walk out of here without pressing charges then you've got another thing coming!"

Orochimaru chuckled softly under his breath. For a minute he came to understand why Sasuke had taken such an interest in the blond before. He was entertaining and light no matter what the situation. That didn't make him want to change his ways, of course, but it was nice to share a little enlightenment here and there.

"I admire your optimism but I assure you…" he leaned against the table so his mouth was right next to Naruto's ear, "you won't be getting out of here a free man anytime soon. You can thank your dear friend, Sasuke Uchiha, for that."

Naruto's eyes widened. His heart stopped. The world tilted. Time froze.

"_You won't be getting out of here a free man anytime soon. You can thank your dear friend, Sasuke Uchiha, for that." _

For the first time in many years, Naruto felt his heart crack in two.


	10. Fix It

Thanks for all the love guys (: Second to last chapter out early for you all.

**Warning: A lot of stuff goes on in this chapter. Can Sasuke fix what he broke? LMFAO. Probably... NOT. HA. MWAHAHAHAH. I'll shut up because I'm typing this right now and I still don't think I'm getting any funnier...**

**Disclaimer: ... Derp.**

Enjoy :D!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten: Fix It<strong>

You know that feeling when the truth seems too real to comprehend? It crashes on your shoulders and makes you weak. Your heart breaks and shatters and crumbles. All the air is kicked out of your lungs from a heavy boot of shock, surprise, and torn up trust. The words… the triggers, they do nothing but torment your mind over, and over, and over again. Naruto's heart was merely deteriorating as the seconds ticked by. Orochimaru's words had done their job—they cut through the fragile string holding together Naruto's heart with Sasuke's into two, tiny threads that fell lifelessly to the ground.

'_No… this—this can't be happening. Sasuke wouldn't do this. He wouldn't.' _Denial coursed and pumped through his veins. Sasuke Uchiha, the man he had opened up small little doors into the wreckage of his heart, couldn't have sold him out. They had gotten so close in the matter of weeks they spent… _'And… it was all a lie?'_

The notion started to make sense… a little bit. Colors bled together, coming in to fill in the blank spaces that were forever left untouched until now. Sasuke's sudden interest in him, it was so random but so desired by Naruto that he had piled away all forms of suspicion to the back of his mind. He was so caught up in the emotions of a puppy love, a tiny crush, growing and snowballing into something so much more than he could ever imagine.

Only to have the humongous snowball run him over in the end.

Orochimaru was rather proud of himself for shaking up Naruto as much as he did. The man was absolutely struck by his words; and rightfully so. Naruto had been parading on his high horse for too many years; it was about time someone finally kicked him off.

"Now, now, don't look like the world is ending. You saw it coming, didn't you?" the edges of his words were dipped in a bucket of superiority and amusement. "What… you didn't?" he gasped dramatically, "Well. It's not like I'm surprised, of course. I did tell Sasuke to use the greatest acting skills he could muster to sway you."

A dark shadow had crossed over Naruto's face. He bit onto the inside of his cheek, willing himself not to cry. He hadn't fully cried over someone like Sasuke for years and he wasn't about to let Orochimaru break past the steel-enforced dam he had constructed to keep those emotions blocked. The man was doing a damn good job at battering and smashing against it, though.

"It's a lie," there was no real vigor left in his voice.

Orochimaru's lips curled in a disgusting smirk, "Is it?"

Kyuubi had remained silent for most of the interrogation, sucking on his third cancer stick of the night. "You're enjoying this way too much," he snorted, puffing out another cloud of toxic smoke into the air. "You got what you wanted. He's caught and obviously broken. What more do you want?"

"Naivety is a common thing to lesser beings, I suppose," why yes, Orochimaru was feeling extremely superior right now. "I won't be finished with him until he's locked away in the deepest of cells with the biggest amount of punishments strapping him down. Until then, I'll be milking this for every chance I ge."

Kyuubi could feel a vein popping his head. Orochimaru had struck a rather deep nerve with that last comment. Just because he was feeling the rush of superiority didn't mean he should go picking fights with every 6'5" redheaded thug he hires. Then again, his rates were high enough…

The man snorted, snubbed out his cigarette, and headed for the door. He wasn't needed for this part, nor did he want to stand around and watch this freak have a field day over some puny little runt. "Whatever. I'm out. You know where to leave my bill." Some divine touch must have lead him to turn his head around one final time before he stepped out that door to take a glance at Naruto.

A face filled with complete and udder devastation was what met him when he dropped his eyes.

Kyuubi walked out after that, slamming the door behind him.

+Borrowed+

Sasuke nearly broke down the doors to the station when he finally came barreling inside thirty minutes later. One half of his shirt was pulled out, hanging over his right pocket, his tie was discarded somewhere at his house, his hair was all ruffled up and unkempt, and pure insanity coated his eyes. Seriously, he must have run nearly all the stoplights on his way to the station. Everyone looked up from their cubicles to see the unusual appearance of the disgruntled raven before them. Kakashi was the only one who seemed unfazed by Sasuke's entrance.

"About time you came," he said calmly, his typical mug of coffee absent.

The raven glowered at him. "Where is he?" he asked between breaths.

Kakashi raised a cool eyebrow, "Take a guess."

"Don't fuck with me, Kakashi." Sasuke growled. He nearly punched a hole through a wall with all his pent up anger swirling and bubbling around. A few of the other cops took their chances to filter out before they had to deal with the blunt wrath of Sasuke Uchiha. "Tell me where Naruto is _now_!"

"I don't see why I'm in any position to tell you seeing as it's your fault he's in this situation in the first place."

Kakashi words were like anchors crashing against his shoulders. They told the truth and weighed him down deeper into the sea of guilt he was desperately trying to get out of. He knew, all right, that it was his entire fault. That if he never accepted Orochimaru's offer Naruto would still be a freeman and wouldn't have to face whatever Hell Orochimaru was ready to throw him in. He had lost sleep over it numerous days that the sliver of happiness and peace he managed to obtain with Naruto would soon decay and whither into nothing.

Okay. He knew. He didn't need to be reminded. What he needed was a plan to fix every single mistake he made and set things _right_.

"You're right…" the words burned his tongue as his shoulders deflated and his body became more lax with resolute finality. "I pursued him for selfish reasons. And I know that it's my fault Naruto is in the situation he's in now. But… dammit, I can't let him go like this! I can't. I think… I love him," he muttered the last part quietly, a small blush coming to devour his face. "I grew to know little pieces about him that made him so much more… realer to me. He's not just some annoying, loud, perky, idiotic, kleptomaniac to me anymore."

Kakashi didn't show any signs that Sasuke's words had made any impact on him. Sasuke was ready to say more although a deflated sigh wanted to push through his lips in its place. Instead, the man's next words were the final decision.

"What is he to you now?"

Their eyes met. Sasuke's next words would be the deciding factor in whether or not Kakashi would even let him see Naruto again to set things straight. He stood up a little straighter and bore holes into Kakashi's eyes.

"The man I want to spend the rest of my days with."

Seconds seemed to take on the shapes of hours until finally Kakashi pushed himself off the wall and started to walk down the hallway. About halfway down he looked over his shoulder at the startled raven, barely suppressing his urge to smirk. "Well? What are you waiting for? You're not going to fix what you broke if you stand there gaping like a fish."

It took a few seconds for Kakashi's words to fully process through Sasuke's mind but when they finally hit Sasuke was running off after Kakashi, his heartbeat pumping erratically with every step he took.

+Borrowed+

Of all the cells Naruto was forced to stay in, this one was by far the least comfortable. First of all, it was extremely cold. Not even a polar bear could handle this type of bone-chilling frost. The bench he was first to sit on was really hurting his rear end. He'd probably never be able to sit down on something else for _weeks_. And Heaven forbid if these handcuffs wouldn't stop rubbing the wrong way…

Despite all his morbidly humorous thoughts running rampant around Naruto's head, the kleptomaniac couldn't find any joy in this situation at all. Usually, he'd be sitting in a decent cell courtesy of Kakashi and wait for a few minutes until he saw that snarling, beautiful face of Sasuke the man he…

Well, he wasn't too sure _what _he felt for him anymore. _'I hate him,' _he thought sullenly, staring at the dank, mossy brick wall to the right. _'But then again, my heart still wants him… I still want him. But not like this. I trusted him, and he was only using me.' _It hurt to think that all the time they had spent together, gotten close together—no matter how short it was—was only because Sasuke had to do it for his _job_. To get ahead. To be the best. As was what Orochimaru had so happily told him not even an hour ago.

"Dammit, Naruto. You know better than to get involved with cops," he berated to himself, resting his head against the brick wall behind him. "You warned me, brain. I know you did. But my heart had to be stupid and play along with the idea that love was possible for me." Naruto chewed on his bottom lip at that word. **Love**. Did he really love Sasuke? _Had _he really loved Sasuke?

The answer was as clear as the irritation coming off from the handcuffs were.

"Well. I guess this is it. I'm sorry, Iruka, that I became the exact opposite that you wanted me to be." Tears prickled the corners of his eyes. If Iruka were to see him in this state, were to learn of his past crimes and the world he voluntarily slipped into… If he were to see him so tainted and stained, he surely would have turned his back on him. Secretly, in the tiniest, farthest corners of his mind, he was glad Iruka was in a coma. He wasn't happy about how or why he was put into a state, but he felt comfort knowing the fact that the sole person who's judgment he ever depended on wouldn't have to see him break the law and now wind up in jail—for real this time—ready to be shipped off to sentencing…

"I should have stuck with the bookstore. It would have been harder to raise the money for you, but at least I wouldn't have met _him _and got caught up in this—"

"I'm telling you! I need to see him right now and if you don't get out of my way I'll whip out my gun and shoot you point blank!" a familiar voice snarled. Even against Naruto's wishes, his heart still managed to skip a beat hearing that voice again in what seemed like weeks.

'_Oh God, please don't let him in here. Please. Plea—!'_

_SLAM. _The door opening up to the hallway of jail cells was horribly kicked back, revealing a furious raven in the doorway. Naruto's eyes were snapped open, his ears trained on the pattering footsteps of the man he never wanted to see again…

"Naruto!" Sasuke ran to the bars, gripping them tightly. His hair was all a mess and his eyes were all blurry with emotions trying to break through.

Naruto bit back every urge he had to run up to the bars and smash his lips against Sasuke's. It was a hard battle that was for sure. He forced his eyes to stare at the wall and made his voice as devoid of emotion as possible.

"Oh. You're here? What a surprise. You're just _full _of surprises, aren't you?" literal venom was coming out in his words, and he didn't have to see any form of expression on Sasuke's face to know that they had the desired effect.

Sasuke gulped. He had expected this, the cold brutality of a distant blond. He just never knew it was going to hurt _this _much. "Of course I'd come for you. I wouldn't leave you like this."

Naruto choked out a scoff that almost sounded like half a sob in Sasuke's ears. "Funny, because you're the reason I'm in this hellhole in the first place!" he was yelling by now. All his fury and pain from being backstabbed was seeping through and he was going to let it all out. "I trusted you! I open up my damn heart to you and what do you do? You lie to me! You never really wanted to get to know me; you just wanted to get ahead in your _job_. Your fucking job, Uchiha. Was that all I meant to you?"

The raven was silent. How could he fight back to those words? He had planned a lot of things to say when this moment came but now they had all flew out the window, along with his hope. There was pure malice and betrayal flashing in Naruto's blue eyes and the sinking feeling that things could never be right again started to grow and grow inside of him.

'_No. I can't back down, now.' _Sasuke gripped onto the jail cell's bars tightly before he released his grip and dug into his pockets for the key he got from Kakashi before he got down here. He slipped it into the keyhole and turned it. The jail cell opened with a soft groan.

Naruto hid how shocked he was by Sasuke's silent offering of freedom by snarling out in disgust. "You think letting me go is going to chance anything? Screw you, Uchiha! You fucking lied to me! I don't ever want to see your face again!" But Sasuke was still standing there, his silhouette outlined by a lamp dangling up above. Another spike of fury tinged with sadness coursed through him as he stood up and bared his fangs. "I said get the fuck out of here! Liar! Cheater! Liar!" he was crying, now. Haphazard tears cascaded down his face. He promised himself he wasn't going to cry, but seeing Sasuke stand there… and do nothing…

His heart was pleading furiously for all this madness to stop.

Sasuke took a step inside. And then another step, followed by another, and another, and another. So many steps until he was so close to Naruto's face that their noses touched. He could see the waterfalls pouring out of Naruto's eyes and reached up with a shaky hand to wipe them away. Naruto whipped his head to the side.

"Don't touch me!" oh, how his body and heart were screaming to be touched by Sasuke. "Leave me alone!"

But he stood there. Defying every odd and every want Naruto had for him to be as far away as possible. He gently cupped Naruto's face and his hands and urged him to look at him. Slowly, that beautiful face turned in his hands—looking defeated and tired and bruised. His face was all blotchy, his lips never stopped quivering in a way that made Sasuke want to nibble on them nonstop, and those eyes—those beautiful blue eyes…

They would surely be the death of Sasuke Uchiha.

"Why…?" all the anger and frustration was gone from Naruto's face. All that was left was a shaky little whisper.

Sasuke brushed a few tears out of the way and gently rested his forehead against Naruto's. He felt the blond jump slightly at his touch. "I love you."

Those words happened to fly out of his mouth faster than he could think. Really, they were hiding back in the trenches of his mind for a while now, just waiting to be used at a moment like this. He didn't regret saying it. He loved Naruto. He loved him with all his heart and body and soul, Sasuke couldn't deny it any longer. Who would have thought he'd fallen so hard, so quickly, like this?

Naruto nearly choked on the air he sucked in. His eyes widened to the size of beach balls and his lip quivered some more. He started to struggle against Sasuke's grasp. "You're lying! I know you are! You've been lying this whole time! I can't believe I trusted you. You're such a—"

A pair of warm lips captured his own and cut off his rant. The angry words of disbelief and shock were drowned in their kiss. Sasuke's tongue slipped into his open mouth and explored the expanses of his mouth. Finally, Naruto started to feel his body slack, his knees shake, and his heart pattering loudly against his chest as he fell, and fell, and fell into the kiss. He got himself lost in the passion. Moaning, he pressed himself up against Sasuke, wrapped his arms around his neck and his legs around the man's waist, and started to kiss back.

Sasuke groaned and pushed Naruto against a nearby wall, pouring all the feelings he could never put into words with his actions. He pulled and teased Naruto's bottom lip as he slid his hands under the blond's shirt and rubbed against every inch of skin he could get.

Their hips melded and brushed against each other as their kissing together. It was sloppy and reckless and wild. Both men were drowning…

Sasuke's fingers flew to the top of Naruto's pants, only to have the blond jerk and pull his face away, a blush scarring his face, and a defiant look in his eyes.

"First of all, I'm still pissed at you. Secondly, we're not about to have sex for the first time in this dirty little jail cell!" the blond huffed.

The raven smirked, leaning forward to kiss the crook of Naruto's neck. "I'd have to say our make out session was a sign of forgiveness."

"Not even close! You still lied to me. And for whatever messed up reason you had I can't just forgive you like this..." Naruto slipped out of Sasuke's grasp and folded his arms. "I need you to prove to me that I should come back to you. If you can't do that then I'll happily walk out of this jail cell and your life."

Their eyes locked in a silent challenge. The next words spoken would literally make it or break it between the two. Sasuke swallowed back all his pride, hesitation, and fear and stood up a little straighter.

"I'll admit it. In the beginning, I got closer to you because it was my job. Honestly, I thought the possible of us being together—a cop and a kleptomaniac—was completely laughable. All Orochimaru wanted me to do was become better friends with you. I fell in love with you on my own." It was so tempting to break Naruto's gaze off of him and look down at his shoes but he held his ground. "The more I got to learn about you, the realer you became to me. I started to see you as a person, not some thief. You became real to me. You _are _real to me. And I regret using you to get ahead, but I don't regret using the opportunity to get to know you… to love you. I'm not good with apologies, so… uh…"

Naruto was a blubbering mess of blond and flung himself onto Sasuke, knocking them both on the ground. The pain was slightly unbearable at first, but having Naruto cuddling into his chest and peppering kisses all over his face at random times made it all worth it.

"Okay. Okay. That was sappy enough for me to consider forgiving you…"

Sasuke scowled, though it lacked any real hatred. "I speak more than one sentence and you only _consider_ to forgive me?"

"Well, I must admit I was surprised you could say all that mushy stuff and not puke. But all of it was incredibly cute and endearing." Naruto beamed through his joyous tears and pressed his lips firmly against Sasuke's. "It'll take some time for me to trust you again, but I forgive you. I'm glad we could get together like this and I want to make what we have work this time."

Sasuke smiled, it was small but showed a lot despite its size. He leaned up and captured the blond in another kiss that lasted only a few seconds before they both decided it was time to make their escape.

"Kakashi said he'd take care of Orochimaru," Sasuke spoke as they walked down the hallway towards the door. "My car is in the parking storage around the corner. With any luck we can avoid Orochimaru and make a break for it."

"Do you have any place in mind?" Naruto piped up. "Also, do you think we can snag the keys to these things or find a bobby pin before we head out? My wrists are killing me!"

"Sure, but we have to make it quick before we're caught—"

The door leading into the station cracked open. Both men froze in their tracks. Their hearts nearly stopped. Standing in the doorway was Kyuubi, and he didn't look too happy.

"You escaped already, huh?" he asked calmly, a lazy cigarette hanging off his lips. He cocked a cool eyebrow at the defensive stance Sasuke had taken to protect Naruto and smirked. _'Ohhh, so it's like _that._' _

"I remember you!" Naruto hollered, pointing awkwardly (because of the handcuffs) at the smirking redhead. "You're the asshole who knocked me out with that gun! That fucking hurt, you jerk!"

"And you're the idiot who let me knock you out with my gun," Kyuubi shot right back.

"Let me at him!" Naruto snarled, trying to jump over Sasuke to claw at Kyuubi's face. "I'll fucking wreck you, man!"

"Naruto! Calm down!" Sasuke snapped, sending a warning glare over at the blond. He turned back to see the man at the doorway looking highly amused and smug. Now Sasuke wanted to beat him up. "What do you want?" he asked wearily. He didn't have any weapons on him and Kyuubi looked dangerous. A brawl would end up terribly in their disfavor.

Kyuubi shrugged and pushed himself off the doorframe. "Eh. Nothing much. That creepy snake guy was pissing me off so I started to wander around." He saw the apprehension glowing brightly in the men's eyes and smiled crookedly, "Don't worry. I didn't come here for a fight. Well, I want to punch that guy in the face but… other than that."

"So…?" Naruto prodded; a little annoyed that Sasuke wouldn't let him punch Kyuubi.

"So. I wandered into his room and took this." He pulled out a punch of papers rolled up from into a tube from his back pocket and handed them to the raven.

"These are the papers concerning Naruto's charges…" Sasuke gasped. "But why are you doing this?"

"I told you. That bastard pissed me off _and _'forgot' that he was supposed to pay me. This is revenge." Then he pulled out a key from his front pocket and threw that at Sasuke too. "That's the key. Thought it'd be nice to have those handcuffs off yah, kid." He winked at the blond who growled in response.

"I still want to punch you in the face!" Naruto screamed, but sighed contently as Sasuke worked off his handcuffs. When the metal slipped to the ground, Naruto waved his arms in the air and cheered, "Thank you, Jesus!"

Smiling to himself at how cute Naruto could be in really any situation, Sasuke turned his attention back to the strange hero of the day. "I'm guessing you want something in return for this?"

"Nah," Kyuubi waved his hands at the matter and blew out a puff of cloud. "All I want is to see that bastard snake guy freak out once he's kicked off his high horse."

Sasuke nodded. "All right. Sounds fair." He gripped onto the rolled up tube of papers in his hands, "Now we need to find a way to dispose of these… Can we borrow your lighter?" he asked Kyuubi.

Kyuubi raised an eyebrow, "Tch. What makes you think I have one on me?"

"You're smoking in here right now, aren't you. Just give it to me."

"Smartass cop," Kyuubi muttered and rifled through his pockets until he pulled out a red and black-checkered lighter and threw it to Sasuke. "Be careful. That's my baby you've got there."

"Thanks," he muttered and dropped the papers to the ground. He dropped the papers to the held the papers by the tip and flicked on the lighter, pushing the flame towards the edge and watching as it made quick work of the evidence. "There. All gone."

"That was pretty scandalous of you, Sasuke." Naruto purred and reached up to peck Sasuke on the cheek. "Now let's runaway together like the do on the movies!"

Sasuke nodded and grabbed Naruto's arm. "Thanks, by the way." He said to Kyuubi before he pulled Naruto into a run out the door. The redhead watched as the two men ran out with a wicked grin on his face. Not because he had any devious plan in mind, but only because the minute Orochimaru found out what happened he'd probably burst a vein.

"I should be a good guy more often," he chuckled to himself as he meandered outside himself. He needed a good seat to watch the drama about to unfold.

+Stolen+

They didn't stop running until they had reached the parking garage around the corner. They were out of breath, cold, shivering, but they were together and that was all that mattered. Sasuke pressed Naruto up against the car, their legs tangling and their body flushed together. He intertwined his fingers with Naruto's and trapped their hands up above Naruto's head.

"Where should we go?" he whispered against Naruto's lips.

"Anywhere," Naruto whispered back, pressing his lips against Sasuke's.


	11. Starlight Footsteps

Some parts I like, others... eh. Oh well. o.o

**Warning: I just realized how insane I made Naruto in this fic. I was aiming for hyperactive and got psychotic instead. Oh well, the same thing in my book ;D**

**Disclaimer: Why can't I be funny again in my A/N? T^T**

****Enjoy you beautiful people (;

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eleven: Starlight Footsteps <strong>

Sasuke was driving blindly to wherever the road would take them. Naruto's hand was intertwined tightly with his; randomly giving squeezes here and there that lead to smiles being shared between the two of them.

"I don't think I've ever gone on a spontaneous road trip like this since… high school!" Naruto was giddy. The sort of giddiness where you felt like you could take on the whole world as long as that one, special person was right beside you holding onto your hand and never letting go. That person happened to be Sasuke, of course. And right now the adrenaline pumping furiously in his veins could have taken him all the way to America without ever looking back.

"Were you always on the run in high school?" Sasuke asked cheekily, stealing a glance off the road to watch his blond pout in such an adorable fashion it made it hard not to just lean over and kiss him right there and then.

Naruto's bottom lip jutted out as he reclined in his chair, pretending to be miffed. "I'll have you know I was an innocent little angel back then! Not like that's any difference _now_," Sasuke had to scoff at that. Somehow he really doubted Naruto was as innocent as he claimed to be. "But I did have a wild side."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "I bet." They fell into somewhat of a comfortable silence, neither really knowing what to say to fill in the gap. Blinking stars were coming out to dot the purple sky above them. "We're going to have to pull over soon," Sasuke motioned to the gas tank that was only held a quarter left of gas. He didn't know where he was going, so heading off without a set destination would probably lead them off stranded with an empty tank.

Naruto simply nodded. "Let's pull off over there," he pointed towards a wide expanse of trees over on the right. "It looks pretty and it'll look like we're camping. You know, I haven't been camping in years."

"I'm glad you can make things obscenely positive no matter what the situation."

"It's one of my best qualities."

The raven pulled off the main road, looking left and right to make sure no other cars were coming and drove onto the grass. He put the car into park and just sat there, sitting in a huge vat of emotions he couldn't describe. There were so many chaotic thoughts just swimming around endlessly through his mind yet he couldn't voice any of them. Some were questions, others were statements, and then there were the majority that really didn't make any sense. They simply floated there in hopes to be plucked out so they could fill up the silence.

Naruto squirmed in his seat until he felt somewhat comfortable in the small confines of Sasuke's Sedan. He rolled onto his side and gave Sasuke a lazy smile. "Ever had car sex?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow himself, already immune to Naruto's perverted advances. "If I say yes?"

"Then I will be so freaking jealous I'll grill you for the most embarrassing details you'll wish you never did it in the first place!"

"First of all, you have no shame—"

"Obviously," Naruto kicked in with a smirk.

"—And secondly I'm… uh…" a small blush scarred the raven's face. Oh yeah, he could sit there and have Naruto blatantly talk about sex but when it came his turn he'd geek out! Smooth, Uchiha, really smooth work.

Blue eyes expanded, Naruto's mind already going to work with the sentence. "No way…"

"Don't start!" Sasuke hissed.

"I can't believe it!"

"I'm warning you!"

"My little Sasu Bear is still a _virgin_?"

"Don't call me that either!" if Sasuke wasn't so horribly, utterly, completely in love with the blond he would have strangled him right there and then. Instead he went for the old slap against the back of the head move that always sent Naruto reeling.

"Ow! Fuck! All right, so it was rude to make fun of your virgin ways!"

"Watch it or I'm going to do more than just slap you," Sasuke warned. "Seriously, is it that big of a deal that I haven't had sex yet? I've been swamped in my job for the past six years—not a lot of time to settle down and find someone."

"But you found me!" Naruto added in with a grin, leaning over to peck Sasuke on the cheek. He pulled back and was grinning from ear to ear. "It's definitely okay that you're still a virgin! I am too," he added the last part in more casually than Sasuke would have liked. Hell, he didn't even notice what Naruto had said until five seconds later.

"What?" Sasuke bolted up right in his car seat and shot Naruto a look. "You're a virgin too?" Naruto nodded like an excited puppy ready to pee their… pants? Wait, puppies don't wear pants… "Then what was all that crap about earlier for?"

Naruto shrugged, "Eh. I dunno. Just thought it'd be funny."

The raven held back every urge he had so he wouldn't strangle the blond.

Instead, he sighed and rested his head against his steering wheel. "Some days I wonder about you…"

"That's cute," Naruto teased lightly, leaning over to wrap his arms around Sasuke's middle. Silence shortly fell between the two once more, both trapped in their own thoughts. It didn't last too long though. Naruto was the first to break the silence in half.

"I'd really like you to be my first time," he said nonchalantly, burying his face into Sasuke's shoulder so the raven wouldn't see his blush.

The raven jerked slightly. He carefully raised his head and looked at the blond buried in his shoulder. A small smile came to his face as he gently eased Naruto up and brought him to sit on his lap. "Well I would hope so," he smirked and leaned up to press a soft kiss on Naruto's lips. "It would be a pity that we went through all this shit and ended up not solidifying anything."

"A shame to the highest degree!" Naruto agreed and brought Sasuke's lips in for another kiss. It was slow and nice and simply… wonderful. No tongues, no groping, just a lot of cuddling, fondling, and love. Naruto pulled back with his eyes closed, his lips all puckered and pink, and an adorable blush on his face. "Hey… Sasuke?"

"Hmm?" Sasuke asked, his heart pounding madly in his chest.

"Guess what?"

"Do I have to?" the raven playfully whined.

"Well no… but then I won't tell you what I'm thinking anytime soon," Naruto bargained.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. _'Childish,' _"All right. Um… you have a boner?"

It was a shot in the dark…

Naruto burst out laughing. "Ha! No, of course not! Well, maybe a little," he wiggled his hips, moving it so his half-hard erection pressed against Sasuke's stomach. He even moaned a little.

"You're… so…" Sasuke breathed out but Naruto placed a finger over his lips to shush him.

"I know. I'm irresistible. But you're wrong about your first guess! Here, I'll give you a hint: It's a three letter phrase."

"Three letter phrase…?" Sasuke wracked his brain for answers to fit the ridiculous riddle Naruto had come up with. "Stop talking, idiot?"

"No!"

"More money, please?"

"Dude, not even close."

"I suck at guessing games," Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto rolled his eyes and leaned in to whisper in Sasuke's ears. "Fine. Another hint for you: Think of a heart…"

'_A heart…?' _Ohhhh…

"I love you?" Sasuke asked with his eyebrows poised high to the sky.

"You dare question your affections for me?" Naruto feigned shock. "I can't believe this! Say it in a statement, Teme."

"… I love you." The words felt as right and as true and as strong as they did the firs time he said it just mere hours ago.

"I love you too!" Naruto cheered and smacked his lips against Sasuke's.

"Wait… Is that all you wanted to say?" Sasuke asked when they broke apart.

"Well, _duh_. I realized I didn't say it back last time, but I wanted to be funny and make you say it first so I could reply this time! Brilliant, huh?" Naruto was grinning like a child who had just gotten an A+ with extra bonus points added onto it because he was such a genius.

Sasuke couldn't even be mad. Actually, he started to laugh—loudly.

"Only you!" he cried with tears staining his eyes and the fits of laughter bubbled out of his chest and into the air. "Still though, why can't you ever play fair?"

"I'm always fair," Naruto defended. "I'll even let you ask me a question—anything you want—because I'm such a generous person like that."

"Oh you're so kind…" Sasuke muttered, though he was actually elated Naruto was letting him in again to ask whatever he wanted. He knew exactly what to ask, too. "Why did you drop out of the underground and start hitting lower rate crimes?"

He felt Naruto's body stiffen despite all the blond's wishes of control and for a minute he thought Naruto was going to dance around the question and leave him standing in the dark again. Instead, Naruto sighed and rested his chin on Sasuke's shoulders. His hands came up to play with the nape of Sasuke's neck.

"It's a long story…" he drawled. "But I'll make it short. I was really big in the underworld, as you know. And because of that I was able to pull strings that kept me away from the police radar long enough to never get permanently sent to jail. That still sort of works now—you know, connections and stuff. Of course, there's always going to be _one _person who hates how successful you become."

Oh yeah. Sasuke could relate to that. He was the one normally hating the successful person… a.k.a his brother.

"His name was Kabuto," Naruto continued softly. "He was kind of tall, had awkward glasses, and a really cunning face. Acted all sweet and shit for the first couple of months to get close to me, only to backstab me in the end because he wanted to become the number one thief everyone went to. I showed him up, obviously. And after a scuffle he disappeared one day. I thought I'd be out of the clear…

"During that time, Iruka—my guardian and beloved father—was living with me. He didn't know about what I did for a true living and I was fine with that. Iruka was a kind, sort of traditional kind of guy who always believed in justice and doing what's right. How would he take to knowing his adoptive son was dancing the tango in the dark for the past two, three years?

"I always wondered how long I had to keep the secret from him… it would seem I'd never be able to tell him because one day Kabuto found me. I was with Iruka, walking through the alleyway that leads to my apartment, and Kabuto was there at my doorstep. He had a gun. And… well… he fired it. At first I thought I was dead. But I didn't feel anything. When I opened my eyes Iruka was the one on the ground. He took the bullet for me."

Sasuke held onto the blond tighter, feeling tears Naruto would never speak of falling one by one on his shoulder. What a brutal past… How in the world could Naruto still smile and act cheerfully when his adoptive father was…

"He's not dead," Naruto whispered, cutting of Sasuke's train of thought. "He's in a coma. Been like that for years. I've lost track of how many now. The experience was traumatic so I had to drop out of the underworld and fast. As you can expect, not many people were happy about it. But whatever, I didn't care. I had enough money to last me three lifetimes and I used half of it to keep Iruka in intensive care."

"Then… why do you still steal?" he was expecting Naruto to wink at him and say: "Hey, I only gave you one question, silly!" But he didn't. Instead he smiled sadly and shrugged, tear tracks covering his face.

"It's an addiction. I guess. Once you've been used to something for years it's hard to let go of it. I also sort of planned on buying Iruka and I a new apartment—a big one, with a lot of space and no creepy alleyways haunted with memories for me to suffer in." his voice was cracking. All the strength he had applied on to help deliver his words was wearing off, and fast. More tears came, so much so he was sobbing as Sasuke held onto him, whispering promises and words that made his heart throb and pump with painful bliss against his chest.

"You've been so strong," Sasuke whispered. "The complete opposite of me who always runs away from my problems."

"What…" Naruto hiccupped, "What are you talking about?"

The raven swallowed. _'Well here goes… everything.' _"My brother, Itachi… he was a cop; a really good cop. The best, as everyone calls him." He scowled, "I got into this profession because Itachi was in it and all my life I've wanted nothing more than to be like him. He was perfect in everyone's eyes, and once I entered this world everyone expected the same perfection. So I would slave myself to the bone just to get to his level.

"One day… a case came in. It involved a murder—and Itachi was the prime suspect. As his brother I defended him left and right but all the evidence was pointed to him and I was in denial. Till this day I _still _think he was framed…"

"What happened…?"

There was a lot of pain swimming in those onyx orbs. "He disappeared. Without a damn trace. No trail, no letters—nothing. His existence was wiped and only certain snake bastards have the audacity and inhumanity to say his name anymore…" he swallowed deeply, "Sometimes I wonder why I still strive to be like him. Someone so hated by the world I made myself revolve around. He was certainly the best; there was no denying that. But he strayed… and yet I still find myself wanting to overcome his shadow and sometimes I feel utterly pathetic."

Naruto smiled softly, cupping Sasuke's face in his hands and lifting it up so he could kiss on the man's forehead. "You're not pathetic. And your goal to become the best is important don't ever doubt that. It's natural to want to have recognition for something that _you _did all by yourself. No one's going to blame you for that."

Naruto's words were the keys unlocking all the locks Sasuke had placed on himself for years. They made him feel lighter and gave him hope that maybe… just maybe… he could make a name for himself. He'd finally be able to come out of the humongous shadow Itachi left in the wake of his disappearance. A shaky sigh tumbled form his lips as he squeezed Naruto's waist.

"I needed to hear that," Sasuke whispered into the blond's collar.

Naruto chuckled breathlessly and pulled Sasuke's face so their eyes clashed again. "And guess what?"

"What?" Sasuke asked with a smile teasing his lips.

"You're absolutely _perfect _to me."

+Borrowed+

_Riiiing…. Riiiingg… Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiinggg…_

"Ugh… Sasu… answer your damn phone!"

"You have it…"

"Why… the fuck would I have _your _cell phone?"

"…Shut up." Sasuke grumbled, trying to maneuver his body in the awkwardly cramped space Naruto's body plus his small car provided. Never again would he fall asleep in the car with Naruto squished up on top of him… well, never again for a while anyways. He dug around for a phone, finally connecting with the demented piece of mental and stabbed at the ANSWER button.

"What?" Sasuke spat out.

"_Someone sounds grumpy for being a runaway," _a familiar voice sang. Oh how Sasuke really hated that voice right now.

"Kakashi, I'm not in the mood. If you have anything worthwhile to say speak up now or forever hold your peace."

"_Trust me, what I'm about to say is probably the greatest news you'll ever get to hear. You just need to be at the station for it to really take effect." _

"Why would I go back to the station with that snake bastard creeping around the place ready to rip our heads offs?" Was Kakashi seriously bonkers? Did he forget what took place in the station about a day ago? _'This must be revenge for all the times I was a prick to him. I know I should have toned my attitude down to at least being a smartass.'_

"_Well, let's just say the snake finally lost his head…"_

"That scary redhead finally chop his head off?" Sasuke sounded way too elated for something so morbid…

"_You're going to have to come down to the station to find out. See you soon." _Kakashi ended the conversation there, leaving Sasuke to simply sit there and stare… at his phone… in pure confusion.

Naruto opened up one eye and yawned, "What was that all about?"

"It was Kakashi," Sasuke said, easing Naruto off so he could get some circulation back into his body. "He said to come down to the station."

"That crazy fucker!" Naruto shouted. "He wants our heads, doesn't he? Well screw him, he can't see Iruka for a month if this is some twisted scheme!"

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up at the newest piece of information. "Kakashi's seeing Iruka?"

"Yep. Been that way since like… before the accident."

"So _that's _how you knew each other."

"Well, duh. I was the one who practically brought them together—well, one way or another." Naruto shrugged. He wasn't opening any more doors for _that _story and reclined in his own seat. "So… what's the battle plan?"

"I guess… we're going back."

"Orochimaru still there?"

"Nope. Well, I'm going to guess no. Apparently his head was chopped off." Sasuke added with a wry smirk.

Naruto's face beamed. "Sweet! That crazy motherfucker, Kyuubi, actually came through!" he pumped his fists in the air for the first time and started jumping up and down on his seat. "Come on! Put this baby into overdrive and let's go! I'm already planning that bastard's funeral and I'm up to the part where we secretly steal the body and sell it to gorillas!"

Sasuke shook his head, turned on the car, and put it into drive. The morning sun was slowly starting to crawl up the sky, coloring the world with its oranges and yellows and reds. "The things you say make me wonder about you… but why gorillas? Of all things?"

Naruto shrugged. "Why _not _give it to gorillas?"

Good point.

+Stolen+

When they got back to the station all eyes were on them… and not just figuratively. Naruto could literally count out every pair of eyes that were boring holes at him and Sasuke. And dammit, if you doubted that boy didn't strut his way through the place like he owned it you'd be dead wrong.

"Kakashi!" Sasuke shouted. He wasn't strutting around like Naruto was but he sure as hell wasn't about to give nosy onlookers something to gawk out. Every eye he caught he killed them all with his icy glare. It was pretty effective too.

Kakashi stepped out from Orochimaru's old office with a cup of coffee in his hand and a rather pleased smile on his face. "Oh, you guys came back from your escapades already? That's nice."

"Where's the dead body?" Naruto chirped, looking left and right for the snake man's headless body so he could laugh at it and poke it with a stick.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Dead body…? Naruto, I know you're insane but I'm seriously considering locking you up in a mental institution now."

"You said Orochimaru got his head chopped off!" Naruto pouted, stamping his feet like an irate child. "So show me the body so I can mock at him and stuff for trying to tear my soul apart."

"I think you misread my message… Orochimaru is still very much alive." Well that was a kick to everyone's stomach. "But where he is right now, he's probably wishing he was off dead somewhere."

Sasuke's eyes widened a little at that. "What happened while we were gone?"

Kakashi smiled—oh fun, story time—and ushered them inside the room he stepped out of. "Come. I'll tell you everything inside _my _office."

+Borrowed+

Long story short, Orochimaru had gone batty after finding out all the evidence waiting to frame Naruto had disappeared (hehe). He had gone for Kyuubi first but the man was long gone with a lot of valuable items off the man's desk. Kakashi went in to check the commotion and found Orochimaru muttering to himself. He tried to talk to the man but Orochimaru simply snapped and was starting to wreck havoc on the station. Needless to say, once word of his irresponsible behavior and constitutional breaking had gotten up to the higher ups, Orochimaru's ass was fined and incarcerated in less than a day.

"So you're the new commissioner now?" Sasuke asked, still in shock that all of that managed to happen in a span of a day.

"Yes, it would seem so." Kakashi replied with a small smirk. He leaned back in his new leather chair and tapped on his mug. "They thought it would be a logic choice seeing as I'm one of the oldest veterans here at the station."

"I'm so happy for you, Kakashi!" Naruto gushed and leaped over the table to kiss the man's cheek. "This just means I can go on borrowing and never have to worry about getting caught ever again!" he cheered, but at the sight of both Kakashi and Sasuke's glares he shrunk back into his seat. "Or I can_not_ do that and become the upstanding citizen raised me to be."

"That's better," the raven grinned, though he knew Naruto wasn't about to keep that end of the promise for a very long time.

Kakashi raised a silent eyebrow. _'He told Sasuke about Iruka?' _he watched with aroused interest as the banter between the two men floated easily like the past few days had never happened. Like they had been lovers from the very start and any mountain they faced was actually just a bump both of them could easily overcome. It was weird, yes, but not unwelcomed. _'Sasuke must be different after all.' _

"Hearing good news always makes me in the mood to do something naughty!" Naruto jumped out of his seat and grasped Sasuke's hands, pulling him up right after. "Let's go to my place and… you know… celebrate," Naruto winked.

Sasuke's face turned cherry red. "W-What? D-Don't you think… maybe… you're acting on impulse?"

"Well duh, I know that. Of course we won't go home and do _that _right away." Naruto rolled his eyes like Sasuke was the mentally insane one. "Of course you're going to have take me on a date to make up for lying to me and stuff…"

"I thought we were over that!"

"We are! I'm just using it as an excuse to go out on a date with you!" Naruto beamed and pressed his lips against Sasuke. "We'll take care of it tomorrow! I expect you to be at my place around six ready to be abused and bended to my whims."

Sasuke threw a pleading look at the man sitting behind the desk, but all he got back was a smile and a raise of a mug.

"You kids go crazy, but not too crazy. I'm not about to worry myself over you two because you can't control your impulses."

"Kakashi, you're the bomb!" Naruto cried.

Sasuke's glare clearly screamed: _'Dropped dead'. _But hey, at least he was getting a date out of it now that everything was finally resolved…

The rest of the road for them would be easy, right?

* * *

><p>WELL GUYS. I WAS GOING TO END IT HERE BUT I WAS LIKE "WAIT WAIT, WHAT? ME END SOMETHING WITHOUT SASUNARU SEX! UNHEARD OF! So next chapter will probably be short and only created for shameless smut... LOL. I SUCK AT PRODUCT PLACEMENT. WAIT. PRODUCT PLACEMENT? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME.<p>

Anywho. Um.

PANDAS. REVIEW FOR THE PANDAS!


	12. Fresh Starts

This is the last chapter, guys! Thanks to my constant supporters **SasuCakes15, panda6374, and JoanIncarnate** you three are the main reasons I kept writing this fic to the end (: It was a completely different approach than what I normally take. My ideas/plots always seem so farfetch and complicated but I want to write them anyways because I think they're different from all the other fanfics out there... and that's what I like to do (; THE RAINBOW PANDA OUT OF THE BAG! WOOOT! YEAH!

**Warning: SEX. SEX. THE M RATING KICKS IN HERE. I WAS TYPING THIS ON MY SCHOOL'S MAC AND I'M LIKE "OH... WAIT... I'M NOT ABOUT TO SAVE THIS SMUTTY CHAPTER ON THIS COMPUTER! -MAD DASH FOR A FLASHDRIVE WHICH I FINALLY FOUND-. AND. I END THIS CHAPTER ON SORT OF A CLIFFY BUT IT JUST HAPPENED TO END THIS WAY (; ENJOY IT. Oh God the caps in bold.**

**Disclaimer: THIS. WHAT IS THIS? WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? SOMEONE READ THAT TO ME! I can't even. **

Sorry I'm such a spazz, guys c: Enjoy the last chapter of **Borrowed, Not Stolen! **

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Twelve: Fresh Starts<strong>

Saturday night had rolled on by and just as Naruto had forced Sasuke to promise, the raven was at his doorstep duked out in a casual pair of black pants, a navy blue button up shirt… shoes (of course) and a bouquet of beautiful, red tulips.

Naruto slapped his cheeks and screamed, "Sasuke! These are beautiful!" he was smiling ear to ear as he took the flowers from his beloved's hands and ushered him in. "You came right on time—something I kind of, sort of, expected yet I'm still not ready."

Sasuke cocked his eyebrows, noticing how the blond had only half his shirt button up—leaving a lot of skin to be desired and showed off to the world—his pants not even halfway over his butt… and only one shoe on.

"I called you twenty minutes ahead of time," the raven scolded.

Naruto pouted and folded his arms across his chest. "Twenty minutes is not ample enough time to get a body and face like this," he gestured at himself, "ready for a date with a gorgeous person such as you," he gestured over to the raven that was standing in his hallway looking a little awkward at the random compliment.

Sasuke bit his lip, inwardly jumping over the moon because Naruto actually thought he looked… gorgeous. It wasn't the first time Naruto had managed to throw in a compliment when Sasuke wasn't even prepared for it. The blond was really good at getting him off balance like that.

"I'm not _that _good-looking," Sasuke scoffed. "Sure, I'm like sex on feet but you know I try to be modest."

"And that's working _so _great for you. Now go sit down on one of the couches. I'll be done and ready in two more minutes I promise!"

The raven watched Naruto dash up the stairs to his room to put on his finishing touches, leaving Sasuke to face his raging bouts of nervousness that were attacking him relentlessly. _'You've been on dates with him before, Uchiha. Why is anytime different?' _There were numerous reasons as to why tonight was abnormal to all the rest. Tonight they would actually consummate their relationship. A week had passed since Orochimaru's scheme backfired and sent the snake bastard right to prison where he deserved. Because of how hectic the station had become since the conspiracy, there had been no time to actually schedule in their date until now. However, every minute the men got to spend together, their nights usually went from innocent kisses and touches to groping and senseless make outs.

"_I want you _so _badly," _memories of a few nights ago began to bombard Sasuke's mind, making his pants unbearably tight and a blush dominate his face. He remembered the exact position they were in—him straddling Naruto and practically turning him into mush with all his teasing touches and kisses. They were on Sasuke's couch, groping at whatever skin they could get their hands on—and that was a lot of skin.

Sasuke bit his lip again. He wanted Naruto, in every single aspect of the word. And dammit, he was going to make love to him tonight even if it would kill him!

"I'm done!" Naruto called from the top of the stairs. He dashed down the flight of steps and practically tackled Sasuke when he reached the couch. "I hope you have an exciting night planned. My attention span is that of a five year old so I'm expecting the best out of you!" Naruto beamed, straddling Sasuke's hips and secretly running his hands up and down Sasuke's stomach.

Sasuke's hands came up to Naruto's hips and gave them a gentle squeeze. He smiled that adorable way, crooked way that Naruto loved so much and brought their lips together for a kiss.

"When have I ever let you down, Dobe?"

+Borrowed+

Naruto giggled as another puffy flake touched his tongue. The stars were so pretty out tonight. _'Like big diamonds in the sky. Iruka would like this.' _He turned to see Sasuke fumbling with his ice skates. Yes, ice skates, you read that right. The first stop on Sasuke's wonder tour was a few hours at the outdoor ice rink. Naruto smiled softly at the cute idea and remembered how excited he was to know they were going to the ice rink where they could hold hands and do cute stuff. Naruto liked doing cute stuff, he was that sort of guy.

"Please tell me you've been ice-skating before," Naruto teased.

Sasuke huffed as he finally pulled on his left ice skate, squirming at how weird it felt on his foot. Now for the right one… "Does rollerblading around the neighborhood when I was seven count for anything?"

"Not even close, Uchiha."

"Damn… then no. But I always like a challenge."

"Oh trust me, if a challenge is what you're asking for, I'll definitely fill that for you." The grin scarring Naruto's face made Sasuke rethink this date idea of his… but by the time his right ice skate came on, Naruto had dragged him onto the ice and now he was struggling to keep his balance and _not _fall on his ass like a complete fool.

"You enjoy doing this to me, don't you?" Sasuke grumbled. After a few minutes with his balance in check, Sasuke thought he was doing pretty well seeing he could skate around without holding onto the sides. Of course, Naruto was a bastard and had to bump into him every time he passed him on the rink.

Naruto simply smiled, spinning around so he was skating backwards and facing Sasuke. He held out his gloved hands and wiggled them a little. "Come on. You make this _so _easy for me. Have I told you you're extremely cute when you concentrate? Your face gets all scrunched up and you pout in the most adorable way…"

Sasuke snorted and gripped onto Naruto's fingers tightly. The blond chuckled and started to pull Sasuke along. "I think I'm starting to miss your insensitive and perverted jabs…"

"Well if you really want me to… I can point out how every time you move your bulge looks absolutely kissable." Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. It was true, of course. Sasuke was wearing rather dark, _tight _jeans and they did _everything _for the man. Naruto was drooling when he saw the raven stand at his doorstep and it took all his willpower not to jump Sasuke right there and then. He did have fun imagining all the situations he could get into with those pants.

"Never mind. I like your attempts at cute compliments better."

"Make up your mind! You can't have it both ways, Sasu."

The raven smirked and without any warning he raced up and grabbed Naruto by the waist, pulling him down by force onto the ice. Naruto yelped as his back hit the ice, hard but he couldn't be angry when Sasuke was straddling his lips and laughing—actually laughing. God, he loved Sasuke's laugh.

"You're such a child," Naruto chided.

Sasuke shrugged and leaned forward, his lips only a few inches away from Naruto's. "You bring it out of me."

And then they connected.

+Stolen+

"Oh my God!"

"I know."

"These are freaking delicious!"

"I _know_."

"Sasuke, I freaking love you!"

This time Sasuke smiled and leaned in to steal one of Naruto's many fries. "I know," he smirked and bit off the end.

Naruto couldn't even pout at the loss of one fry because his taste buds were currently exploding all over in his mouth. Oh God, the flavors! The taste! And to think such a burger place existed in Tokyo! _'That's it. I'm marrying this man. No doubts now.' _After a fun time at the ice rink, the two had gotten hungry and Sasuke drove them to their next destination: a small diner located in the shopping districts. Naruto wasn't the sort of guy who got all hung up over the flashy side of life, so he had no problems eating out at a dinner if he was sitting across the man he loved.

The man he loved—felt nice to think that.

"You did good, Sasuke." Naruto complimented in-between bites of the most delicious burger he had ever eaten in his life. "You did _very _good."

"Well… this was all because I wanted to make you happy… so…" he looked off to the side, taking the straw to his half-empty milkshake hoping his awkwardness would drown down with some of the vanilla milkshake.

No such thing happened.

Naruto was smiling like such a child on Christmas and reached for Sasuke's hands, lacing their fingers and kissing each and every knuckle. "I never knew you could be so sentimental, my dear. I think I like it."

"Tch."

"You can't even deny it!"

"Shut up, Uzumaki!"

"Only if those pretty little lips make me," Naruto purred.

And we all know Sasuke couldn't deny a challenge…

Sasuke grabbed a handful of fries and shoved them in Naruto's mouth.

Challenge officially conquered.

+Borrowed+

Three hours later and the two men were snuggled up on the couch watching a random Disney movie roll by; Naruto's idea, obviously not Sasuke's.

"I always wanted a magic carpet every since I watched this movie. So then when I was still working underground I went to India in hopes I could "steal" one. Needless to say the people in India nearly sent me to jail with claims I was insane!" Naruto recounted one of the countless stories of his past—the more humorous ones anyways—picking out the random, hilarious ones he had under his belt.

Sasuke slapped his forehead and shook his head from side to side. "Only you, Dobe. Only _you_. Didn't it ever occur to you that nothing in a Disney movie is real?"

"Excuse me! But I'll have you know a happy ending with your one and only is completely, absolutely, obtainable!"

"Oh really now?" Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, "What's your proof?"

Naruto crawled onto Sasuke's lap and hooked his arms around his neck. He peppered kisses along the raven's open collarbone, up his neck where he sucked particularly hard on a pulse, all the way to the raven's panting lips where he tugged on Sasuke's lower lip with his teeth. "Obviously," he breathed out huskily, shifting his body so he was pressed right against Sasuke's forming erection—the man's neck was a sensitive spot, Naruto had quickly found out one day, "It's true if we're here. Together. Right now. And madly in love."

Those words definitely did the trick. Sasuke's heart must have exploded then, along with his brain, because everything else afterwards was nothing but senseless passion. He pressed Naruto against the couch, his lips roaming all over every expanse of skin he could get. Naruto mewled as a warm pair of lips attached to his neck and sucked, bit, and nipped until there was a noticeable bruise etched onto his skin.

"You just love to drive me crazy, don't you?" Sasuke hissed harshly into the blond's ear, working off those annoying buttons on Naruto's shirt.

Naruto grinned lopsidedly, lifting his arms up so Sasuke could dispose of his shirt and throw it to no-man's land. "Mmm, yes. Yes I _do_." He purred and easily took care of Sasuke's shirt, tossed it to the ground, and ran his hands up and down the man's chest. He pinched a pert nipple and grinned wider at the groan he got in response. "And you fucking love it."

"I do," Sasuke replied, kissing down Naruto's neck and towards his chest where he attached his lips to a dusky, brown nipple.

Naruto's back arched at the contact. Sasuke was being absolutely merciless towards the sensitive skin. "Ahhh…oooo… S-Sasuke, harder. Bite it harder."

Sasuke took an especially harsh chomp…

"Ahhhhhh!" Naruto cried out, his hips jutting up. Their clothed erections made contacts and both men released guttural moans. Soon, their hips started to dance to the rhythm of their erratic breathing and strangled grunts.

"You like that?" Sasuke looked up from under his eyelashes, licking Naruto's nipple up and down, up and down…

Naruto's head was thrown all the way back, his eyes fluttering rapidly. "Fuuuck yes." He moaned, entangling his fingers in Sasuke's onyx hair.

Sasuke chuckled, switching back and forth between the nipples before he started to get lower and lower. Every inch of skin he kissed, picking out points to bite and suck—leaving his mark on what was rightfully his. When he reached the waistline of Naruto's pants, the blond was nothing more but a squirming mess in his hands.

"Look at you," he whispered, his index coming up to rub slow, soft circles around the blond's erection. "You're about the burst the zipper."

"D-Don't you fucking _dare_ tease me, Uchiha!" Naruto snapped through half-lidded, lustful blue eyes. "Stroke me! Suck me! Do something, Oh God, please!"

"What a beggar…"

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke simply smirked in reply, hooking his thumbs in Naruto's waistband and pulling the zipper down with his teeth in a tantalizingly slow manner. Naruto groaned, his eyes rolling back when Sasuke's teeth happened to scrape his member…

"Hurry up… please… I need you."

"Patience," he pulled off the blond's pants and tossed them over the couch, leaving Naruto's cock fully exposed to the world. It was throbbing, swollen, and red; the tip leaking a fluid stream of pre-cum. Sasuke licked his lips anxiously. _'I want to taste him…' _he leaned forward and took an experimental lick…

"Oh please! Do that again!"

"Just a lick and you're already wanting more?" Sasuke teased.

"Well if it means I get those pretty lips on my cock, then fuck yes I want more!"

"A man who knows what he wants. I like that." This time he went in deeper, taking the head of Naruto's cock into his mouth. His tongued darted out to lick the slit, swirling around and around the head, before he pulled back with a pop. He went back down for more—the taste already becoming addicting—and took Naruto in deeper this time.

Naruto's entire body felt like it had just been electrocuted. It convulsed and shivered and trembled. Naruto's hips were going crazy, gyrating and thrusting against Sasuke's mouth wishing for more of that heat. "F-Fuck. Aaaah, dee… deeper. Ahhhh, Sasuke. Ahhh, yes! Oh fuck, faster!"

Sasuke picked up his speed, his fingers coming out to tease the blond's balls. Naruto's head snapped back and his eyes rolled. Incoherent words tumbled out of his lips without shame. All he could think about was Sasuke—Sasuke's lips, his tongue, and the heat. How good this all felt. So… so freaking good.

His stomach clenched, the familiar feeling of an orgasm steadily approaching.

Sasuke slowly dragged his teeth along a vein on Naruto's shaft, coming to the tip where he took another bite. That was it for Naruto. He moaned something fierce and exploded into Sasuke's mouth, coming over and over again until he was a shivering, weak mess on the couch.

Without much warning, Sasuke had to swallow every last drop of Naruto's essence. _'Ugh... it's… going to be an acquired taste.' _He'd definitely get used to it later on, he guessed. Naruto, on the other hand, was struggling to come down from his very pleasurable high.

Naruto tiredly lifted up his arm that was thrown over his eyes and grinned weakly. "Do that again sometime, okay?"

Sasuke smiled—the one reserved for the blond underneath him—and crawled up so he could give Naruto a slow and sensual kiss. Their tongues touched and sent jolts of pleasure up and down their spines.

"Anything for you."

"Mmm…" Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke's neck and kissed along his earlobe. "I really want to make love to you right now…"

Sasuke wrapped his arms around the blond's lithe waist and hoisted him off the couch. "To the bedroom?"

"Onwards, my knight!"

They reached the bedroom in record time, only stumbling here and there because they had gotten so engrossed in their kissing they nearly lost their step. The minute they hit the bed Naruto had worked off Sasuke's pants and was rubbing his leaking erection.

"Unnn," Sasuke moaned, his eyelids fluttering for a couple of seconds before he gently pushed Naruto's hands away. "Don't. I'll cum if you keep doing that."

Naruto smirked wryly. "That's the point."

"I _know_, but I'd rather come _inside _you for the first time… bury myself deep inside. Pound you into the mattress so hard you won't be able to walk for weeks. I'll have you screaming my name nonstop…" he whispered, biting onto Naruto's flushing earlobe.

"Oh God…" Naruto groaned. "Enter me. Please. I need you… inside…"

"Lube…?"

"Top drawer," Naruto replied.

Sasuke leaned over and opened the top drawer. Lo and behold, there was the lube. He snapped open the cap and poured a generous amount on his fingers. "This is going to hurt," he whispered, rubbing a sole digit around the tight ring of muscle he was soon going to impale. "But I promise I'll make it bearable."

"It's fine," Naruto reassured, pressing a gentle kiss against Sasuke's lips. "I want this. I want _you_. So hurry up, my patience is not something to test."

"Oh, don't I know." Sasuke chuckled. He pressed a hard kiss to Naruto's lips as his first finger went in. He felt Naruto jerk underneath him and he mentally scolded himself for causing Naruto pain. "I'm sorry," he whispered, kissing the whimpering blond's forehead. "It'll get better."

He pushed the finger in and out slowly, waiting for Naruto to get adjusted to the feeling. When Naruto gave the single, he pushed in another finger. Naruto groaned loudly, tiny tears clouding the corner of his eyes. Sasuke kissed each and every teardrop away. He picked up a scissoring motion, alternating between that and thrusting every so often. He pushed especially deep one moment and struck a nerve that had Naruto crying out for more.

"There!" Naruto moaned, bucking his hips. "Again!"

Sasuke easily complied, shortly after adding the third and final finger. Naruto started to push back against the fingers, literally riding the digits all the way down to the knuckles. Sasuke held back every urge to so he wouldn't come right there and then…

Finally, he pulled out his fingers. Naruto moaned at the loss but knew something better and thicker was about to come…

"I want you so badly," Naruto moaned, hooking his legs around Sasuke's naked hips.

The raven lined himself with Naruto's entrance and teasingly rubbed against the hole. "I've been waiting for this…" he laced his fingers with Naruto's and whispered, "I'm going in…"

He slowly pushed himself forward, breaking passed that tight ring of muscle. Naruto cried out at the intrusion, a painful burning crawling up his backside. Sasuke groaned low in his throat, his arms shaking. Naruto was so _tight_ and _hot_.

"You feel… so good," Sasuke whispered, leaning over Naruto's body so he could kiss him for the millionth time that night. "Are you okay?"

Naruto had the urge to reply with a snappy comeback but the feeling of Sasuke throbbing cock up his ass made him hold it back. "Y-Yeah… just… move. Please."

Sasuke slowly pulled back and then… snapped forward. Each thrust earned him a moan and incoherent babbles from the blond that simply sent his mind spinning in every direction. When Naruto truly let himself go, he was beautiful. His face was flushed, his blond hair was plastered to his sweaty face, and his body… Oh, his body was definitely a work of art.

He lifted Naruto's legs up a little higher, aiming himself so he could hit Naruto's sweet spot over and over again. And hit he did.

"Sasuke! S-Sasuke! O-Ohhh… oh my… there! Uhhh… good!"

Naruto was swimming in the euphoria. The feeling of skin on skin, and flesh- marking flesh, the feeling of Sasuke's cock pounding into him and marking him, it was all too much. And when Sasuke reached in-between their bodies to jerk him off, Naruto lost it.

"I-I'm gonna—Ahhh!" hot streaks of white coated his stomach as Naruto rode out his orgasm, grinding his hips around Sasuke's member.

Naruto's inner walls clenched tightly around Sasuke, making the man lose control and spill his essence inside the blond. He moaned the blond's name as he rode out his orgasm. His arms shook as his final spurts left him feeling weak but completed. He flopped on top of Naruto. The blond smiled and started to stroke his fingers through the raven's black mop of hair.

"I've been dreaming of this day, ever since you first handcuffed me to that chair." Naruto chuckled breathlessly. Still so hung up on the idea that yes, he had Sasuke. And yes, he loved Sasuke. And yes, they were going to be together. The kleptomaniac and the cop—it still baffled Naruto's mind but he wasn't complaining about it one bit.

Sasuke smirked tiredly and lifted his head up so his chin rested on Naruto's chest. "And was it up to your standards?"

"I dunno… I think we need a few more rounds to make sure."

+Borrowed: Two Months Later+

"Hey, Iruka. You're looking about as beautiful as ever today. Not that you weren't beautiful yesterday, but I'm definitely seeing more of a glow. Does that mean you're going to wake up soon? I sure hope so! You always play these games with me and this better not be another one or I swear I… probably… won't do anything. Anyways, I didn't come here to only harass you. Remember that guy I was talking about? Sasuke? Yeah, well, I did it. He is officially mine! M-I-N-E all Naruto Uzumaki's and he is… just… the best—the greatest! He makes me so happy, Iruka. I know you would approve of him if you were awake to see him. I talk about you and how much fun we had nonstop. So you gotta wake up soon, okay? You need to see Sasuke and give us you're blessing before we elope and run off!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at how ridiculous his lover could be and gently cuffed him on the back of the head. "Idiot, what is lying to him going to do?"

"I'm not lying!" Naruto huffed, folding his arms and shooting Sasuke a glare. "It's called support and you can get that in numerous ways."

"I'm sure." Sasuke drawled. His eyes went back to Iruka, though, whose condition still hadn't changed. This was his first visit to the hospital after Naruto finally worked up the courage to ask him to come along. It was a huge step for him, he knew that, and Sasuke was elated that Naruto wanted to take him to meet the man he practically called a father. He could see the love Naruto had for him every time he started rambling off into conversations both of them knew Iruka wouldn't be able to answer. But it didn't matter. In Naruto's mind Iruka's chances of coming back into this world were very high, and he didn't want the man to think he had abandoned him after all these years.

"Your son's amazing," Sasuke whispered. "And I promise to take care of him." He squeezed Naruto's hand a little tighter, beaming at the man beside him.

Naruto smiled back and squeezed. "See, Iruka?" he took the Iruka's hand in his free one, "I told you he was the one! All his words make me turn to goo. Though I don't know if you should know that or not."

Sasuke scoffed, "Oh _now _you have a conscience."

"I've always had one!" the blond defended, that happy go lucky grin still on his face until it started to lose a little bit of its luster… He rubbed small circles over the Iruka's knuckles and dropped his lips to the skin. "Please come back to me; us. I miss you. Kakashi misses you. And Sasuke wants nothing more than to meet you. So please… come back."

For a moment… there was absolutely nothing but the waning silence growing around the room. And then…

Iruka's fingers twitched.

_**The End: Don't borrow a heart if you're going to simply use it and return it in the end. Steal it, claim it, mark it as your own. And make sure you take care of it. Love's all fun and games until a heart gets broken. **_

* * *

><p><em><strong><strong>_WISDOM FOR ALL YOU PLAYERS OUT THERE! FREAKING WISDOM^ But really, to be serious. Thank you EVERYONE who added this story to their favorites and alerts and didn't necessarily review. You all have your reasons, but I appreciate the thought that you all found this story good enough to favorite it and add it to your alerts:D. I don't know what I'll do next. Maybe pick up old fanfics. Or start a new one. I have a few ideas running in my mind. Some for Naruto, some for Pokemon, some for Pompous Pep, and... well. Whatever other fandom I like ;o. Naruto will always be on top, along with Yu-Gi-Oh but who knows. Anyway guys, be on the lookout for something new in the months to come (:

Once again, the pandas will forever live on! ROCK ON WITH YOUR PANDA-BAMBOO EATING SELVES.

**Love, Fallen. Till we meet again c: **


End file.
